Chapter Text
It’s Been about a week Since eddie has been back in town, And buck is ecstatic. He’s had to go to work for his regularly scheduled 24’s, but that's been pretty much the only time they’ve been separated. (And Eddie's coming back to work at the 118 in a month anyways, after Chris gets home, so soon they won't even be apart at work.) Anytime either one of them has gone out of the house for groceries, or a coffee run, or anything else they’d need, buck and eddie have done it side-by-side. They’ve fallen back into step so easily, as if they were never apart.
The best part? Buck knows that he’s needy. He knows he can be too clingy. But everytime he pulls away, afraid he’s being too much, Eddie meets him where he’s at. Like, Buck is trying not to demand that Eddie goes everywhere with him, but all that means is that Eddie is the one offering to go (or just grabbing his keys and following buck). It’s actually pretty great. But Buck knows that he can’t always have Eddie by his side forever (as much as he’d LIKE that). The bubble is going to burst any day now. And about a week in, It does, because maddie invited him over for a Buckley-Sibling chat™.
And well… he could invite Eddie, But buck knows for a fact that this is maddie’s time off from being a mom. Chim and Jee-Yun were going out to dinner, so maddie inviting him over for a Buckley-Sibling chat™ that was just them was kinda sacred. She was eight months pregnant, and even before Eddie got back, they hadn’t spent any time just them in a while.
Yeah. He has to spend some time with Maddie. She deserves it.
So buck goes to maddie’s house, Greeting her at the door with baked goods for the Buckley-Han household, instead of his usual bottle of red. She greets him with a smile. Twenty minutes later, they are sitting at Maddie’s kitchen island laughing together. It feels so nice. Buck just feels relaxed and taken care of. That’s what it’s like to be around his alpha sister; fun and safe. Buck didn’t realize how much he missed her. Maddie makes a particularly funny joke, And Buck throws his head back, laughing hard. His Scent blooms into the room, happy and full.
All of a sudden, maddie scrunches her nose.
“Buck, Why do you smell like eddie?” Maddie asks, outrage laced into her voice. “I swear to god, if you started dating without telling me, I'll actually kill you.”
“What?” Buck asks, laughing a little nervously. “Literally what are you talking about?”
“You smell like Eddie, Buck.” She accuses. “Did something happen?”
“The only reason I smell like Eddie is because we live together, Mads.” Buck tries to insist. “I’m sorry for tracking another alpha’s scent in, I showered before I left, i don’t know why it would cling to me after that.”
“No-” Maddie says, frustrated. “You aren’t understanding me. You didn’t smell like Eddie until you produced a bunch of your scent. Your scent smells like Eddie's, faintly.”
He brings his wrist to his face, trying to discreetly smell. And… oh god. Maddie is so right. Buck’s face flushes hot. He… He hadn’t noticed, because he’s been basically bathing in Eddie's scent for the past week, But deep, buried under layers of sugar and vanilla, a distinct note of cinnamon (Eddie) and a pinch of citrus (Chris) stands out. Buck’s eyes go as wide as quarters. When- when did he and Eddie trade scents?
“Buck. PLEASE DON’T TELL ME that you didn’t even know that you were producing Eddie's scent.” When buck looks up at maddie, She’s pinching the bridge of her nose.
“Um… I totally knew that,” Buck jokes, trying to save some of his pride. Maddie just glares at him.
“Wait, so are the two of you dating?” Maddie asks. “Because trading scents like that only happens when couples start thinking about mating each other.”
“What?” Buck asks. “What do you mean?”
“Yeah,” Maddie stares at him. “Chim and I only started trading scents after I was already pregnant with Jee. Right before we mated for real.” A pause. “Wait, Buck. Are you pregnant?”
“No!” Buck insists. “Oh my god, maddie no! We haven’t-” Buck feels the blush re-insulate itself on his face. “We aren’t even dating, oh my god.”
“You aren’t dating?” Maddie questions. Buck nods. “Then why the fuck are you thinking about mating him!”
“Literally who said that, Maddie!”
“Biology!” She shoots back. “Buck, what happened when Eddie came home?”
“Well…”
Buck tells her everything. There is nobody that he trusts more than maddie, so she might as well know about it. About how buck was totally sleeping in the same bed as eddie, about how eddie had offered to scent him and buck had accepted, about how deeply he missed eddie while he was away in texas, to the point where he was wearing an old sweatshirt that had the alpha’s scent on it. By the end of the story, Maddie is just staring at her countertops in her house in disbelief.
“So… a lot happened after he came back.” Buck concludes Lamely.
“Oh my god…” Maddie just marvels. “You two are idiots. You’ve done everything in the wrong order. You do understand that you are in love with him by now, right?”
Buck Blushes. “Yes, maddie. Of course I know.”
“And you know that he’s in love with you back, right buck?”
Buck sighs. “I don’t know, mads.” Maddie just mirrors his sigh with one of her own and looks up at her ceiling.
“You know what? I think you need to deal with this on your own.”
Buck rolls his eyes. “Whatever.” And they change the subject.
-x-
When Chim and Jee get home, Buck happily reads Jee a story to get her to go down for the night. It’s his job and privilege to do that, as the “Favorite Uncle.” He actually gets roped into reading three chapters of a Junie-B-Jones book, One of the books he gifted her for christmas. (He got her a box book set. She squealed when she saw it, and then immediately demanded that Buck read her some after christmas-morning breakfast.)
Once she was down for the night, he decided not to overstay his welcome. He gathered all of his things, meeting maddie at the door.
“Thanks for inviting me,” Buck tells her. “It was nice to talk, y’know, not over the phone.”
“Yeah. Oh! Before you leave.” Maddie pulls him in for a hug. He goes willingly before he realizes her plan. She playfully attacks him, Rubbing her hands through his curls and up and down his arms. She’s scenting him like a mother would her pup (the way his own mother never really scented him when he was young. Maddie always filled that gap anyways.) She pressed her deft fingers into Buck’s birthmark, pressing his nose just to annoy him, dragging her scent all over him.
“Hey!” Buck Half-Heartedly tries to push her away. Giggles bubble out of his chest. “Mads, you’re getting your stupid alpha scent all over me.” More giggles and attempts to wiggle away as she holds him close and scents him. “Stoooppp,” Buck whines.
“That’s the point,” She says smugly, slowly releasing him. She leans in, whispering mischievously, “Eddie needs to know that you were in my Pack first.”
Buck basically flees the house, blushing wildly, Maddie cackling behind him.
When he gets home, Eddie greets him at the door.
“Hey,” Eddie says, “I saw you pull in.”
“Hey,” Buck Grins. He pulls Eddie in close, hugging him. Eddie easily wraps his arms around Buck’s shoulders, and buck sets his forehead on Eddie's chest. They sway in silence for a minute. “Jee was so cute tonight.”
“Yeah?” Eddie asks, pulling back to look Buck in his eyes. He takes a deep breath, and a little crease appears between his eyebrows. “Did Maddie scent you? I can’t smell you.”
“Yeah.” Buck Blushes. “She uh- She said that you needed to know that I belonged in her Pack first. She was mostly joking, I think.”
Eddie snorted. “Why would she say that?”
“Eddie, we- Did you- When’s the last time you smelled your scent?” Buck stumbles through.
“Um…” Eddie looks confused. “Everyday?”
“Just… Smell again.” Buck tells him. Eddie looks at him puzzled, like he thinks Buck is silly. “Indulge me.”
Eddie Shifts, So that one arm thrown around both of his shoulders, still keeping Buck close, and Eddie's other wrist lifts up to his face. He gives a whiff, and the confused smile disappears off his face. He takes another deep breath, eyes slipping closed. Buck wiggles, trying to give Eddie his space, But eddie just draws him back in, with the hand still on his shoulder.
“...I smell like you.” Eddie says, after what feels like an eternity. “I’m making your scent.”
“I smell like you, a-and chris.” Buck says, watching as Eddie melts into his arms. Warm awe and delighted shock. “We um… we traded scents, apparently.”
“Realy?” Eddie asks. Again, he looks in awe. Like he’s the luckiest alpha in the world to trade scents with Buck. Buck Steps back a bit, Licking his thumb and then rubbing it against his wrist in order to get rid of maddie’s scent marking over his scent gland. He then holds his wrist in front of Eddie's face. Eddie doesn’t even hesitate, a large hand coming up to grip Buck’s wrist and bring it closer to his nose (it makes buck go a little weak in the knees). Eddie takes a deep Breath.
When his eyes snap down to meet buck’s, they are shiny with tears.
“Oh, eddie.” Buck coos. “Come on, come here.” He bullies Eddie backwards, till they are both standing in front of the couch. Buck Lays down, pulling Eddie on top of him until Eddie is laying on buck’s chest, His nose very close to the scent gland on buck’s neck. Eddie laughs wetly.
“Buck,” He says, and he pushes up on his arms to try and stand up, But buck gently pulls him back down on top of him.
“Nope,” Buck says. “When you make that face, and you look like you’re about to cry, I am legally entitled to take care of you until you feel better.” Eddie laughs again.
“How’d I ever get so lucky to get to have you in my life?” Eddie asks him. A steady silence settles between them, eddie draped over buck. They stay like that for a while.
“Hey,” Buck says softly. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“No,” Eddie tries playfully, but when Buck fixes him with a glare he sighs. “It made me very emotional that I could smell Chris on you. Smelling My Pup on you… I don’t know if you fully understand how much it means to me. The fact that anyone who can smell your scent knows that you belong with us. Me and Chris. Do you know how much that means to me, Buck?”
Buck blinks slowly. Now it was Buck’s turn to become teary eyed. He shakes his head. “I didn’t even think of it like that, eds.” I’m so in love with you. Remains unsaid. Buck somehow wonders if Eddie could hear it anyways. “I like it too. I do Belong with you, and you belong with me .”
Eddie snorts. “God, we are such dorks.”
“Hey!” Buck says, indignant. “We were having a moment before you ruined it.”
They eventually get into their shared bed, Vanilla and Chocolate, Cinnamon and sugar swirling together. The memory of that conversation is something Buck holds close. It’s something he dreams about that night. It’s something that thrums under his skin the next morning when he realizes just how domestic their whole routine is now. It’s something that simmers in his heart when they go out to the grocery store, well aware that anyone who could smell either of them would know they belonged to each other. It made the omega in his chest long for something more.
-X-
A month passes, and Christopher is finally coming home.
Eddie drives up to El-Paso to go get him. Buck offers to go with him, But Eddie says that they are going to need all of the space in the small car they can get, even with the handy vacuum-sealed bags that buck provided to them. Neither of them are happy about it, But buck tries to put on a brave face and pretend that it’s not getting to him.
“Well, I hope this is the last time we have to do this,” Eddie says, standing in their driveway.
“Drive 13 hours to El Paso and 13 hours back to LA?” Buck asks.
“Say goodbye,” Eddie says. Buck meets his eyes, and he’s somehow surprised by the look of sincere love and genuine distress that meets him. “ Dios , I’m going to my parent’s for one night, and I'm going to miss you so bad.”
Buck closes the distance between them, basically having them stand chest-to-chest. Buck Grabs Eddie's Hands, Sliding both of their palms together, lacing fingers.
“This isn’t a goodbye, Eds.” Buck says, with conviction. “You are coming back. This is a See-you-soon, at most.” Eddie gives him a smile, but his scent still smells like longing, like missing someone.
That just can’t stand in Buck’s books.
“Here,” Buck says. “For the drive.” Buck Makes his moves pretty clear, in case Eddie wants to pull away, But Eddie lets Buck scent him, and even leans into it a little bit. Buck lightly covers Eddie in the safe smell of vanilla and sugar, Trying his best to telegraph the feeling of home.
Eddie’s eyes slip close, clearly savoring it.
“Thank you, Sweetheart.” He says, His voice is all low and bass, and alpha like. Fuck.
“Go get Chris,” Buck says, trying to keep the shake out of his voice. “I’ll see you in a little over 36 hours, okay?”
Buck started counting the seconds when Eddie pulled out of their driveway. Eddie sent him occasional updates on the drive there, and Chris sent him updates every hour on the hour for the drive back. Every second that passed felt like one more second closer to their happy return.
Buck nearly cried when Chris texted “In the neighborhood now :))”. He got up off the couch, stretching, and he stood on the porch, turning the light on.
The car pulled into the driveway, and before it was really even off, Chris flung his door open.
“Buck!” He shouts. Buck hears an echo in his head of the little six year old pup shouting the same thing, and Buck is instantly tearing up. Buck and Chris meet on the walkway, and buck is automatically holding him. He wraps his arms around the tall teenager.
“Chris!” Buck says, through tears. “Oh man, I missed you.”
Buck not-so-subtle scents Chris, rubbing his hand through Chris's curls, pressing his hands into Chris's face, booping him on the nose. Chris giggles, scenting him back, the happy mixture of lemon citrus and sweet vanilla complementing each other. The familiar scent of home settles in the air. Buck pulls his pup in for another hug.
Finally, He thinks. My Pack is all home, nearby, and safe. Finally.
Buck looks over Chris's shoulder (Because he can no longer look over his head), to find Eddie. He locks eyes with Eddie and he can’t help but marvel at the look of pure adoration spelled out on his face.
“Hey,” Buck says, pulling back from the hug. “I’m sure you had a lot of good food at your grandmother’s house, But there’s some Buck food still warm in the oven. How does that sound?”
“Sounds amazing, Buck.”