Chapter Text
“I’m sorry, Evan.”
“What…What are you…?”
“I can’t do this. I’m not ready to move in with anyone,” Tommy said, his eyes following his finger as it traced the marble countertop.
Buck’s heart fell, despair hanging heavily over his head. All he wanted was company—a deeper connection with his special someone. A stinging deja vu struck him. This was not the first time…
“Well, there has to be something I can do. Tell me what I can do,” Buck said, holding back the lump in his throat.
“No, there isn’t. Evan, I’m sorry, but… we should take a break.”
A shudder went up Buck’s spine. He raised his eyes to the ceiling, slowly nodding his head. “Ok,” he said, fighting back the tears threatening his eyes. Don’t blink, Buck. Don’t blink. “Ok.”
No response; no sound, besides a restrained sniffle from Buck. “I guess this is goodbye, then,” Tommy said, turning around slowly. “Goodbye, Buck.”
Buck pursed his lips, watching as Tommy glanced back one more time before closing the door behind him. Click . Wordless, Buck walked over to his couch. A whimper broke through his lips. Fuck…Fuck.
*
“Buck? What is it? It’s 2 in the morning,” Maddie’s weary voice sounded on the opposite side of the phone.
“Sorry, Maddie. I just,” his voice broke. “Need someone to talk to.”
Rustling from the other side. “Is everything ok, Buck? Did you get kicked off a dude ranch again?”
Buck chuckled, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. “Damn Maddie. That was one time.”
Maddie giggled. “Then what is it, Buck?”
His face fell. His stomach became hollow. “Tommy, he,” he paused to clear his throat. “He left.”
“God, Buck. I’m so sorry. How are you doing?”
“Completely honest, could be better. Could still be in a relationship. Not forever alone, you know?”
“Oh please. You said that last time. You are not forever alone.”
Buck sprawled on the couch, leaning his head into the cushions. “That’s rich coming from you, Mrs. Chim.”
“Ha Ha, Evan. Very funny. I’m serious. You aren’t forever alone. Say what.”
“What, Maddie?”
She paused. A heavy breath. “Evan, Chim and I are going out to Hotshots tomorrow night. We can go out for some drinks and kind of leave it behind for a minute. Look forward, right? What do you say?”
An image of Tommy flew through Buck’s head—that sad glimmer in his eyes before he left, or the way a frown crawled across his face as Buck suggested moving in. A lump grew in his throat again. “You know what? Why the hell not? I’m in.”
*
Buck stepped out of the back of Maddie’s Odyssey, basking in the neon light emanating from the Hotshots sign overhead. Country music throbbed through the windows—a cacophony of Brooks and Dunn musing over the Boot Scootin’ Boogie, Shelton covering Footloose, and Adkins losing his mind about that Badonkadonk. Chim stopped beside Buck, staring at the old bar surrounded by too many cars to count. “Just telling you now, this was not my idea.”
Maddie joined them, linking arms with Chim as she smiled at Buck. “Let’s go have some fun tonight,” she said, winking at Buck.
Buck returned his sister’s smile, watching the pair as they walked ahead toward the door. What am I doing? What if Tommy texted? Buck pulled out his phone and opened his messages. Nothing. He slipped it back into his black leather jacket pocket, running his hands down his face before following Maddie and Chim into the bar.
It was packed. To the right, people stood around small tables with beers in hand, laughing it up about ‘what a day it had been!’. They had no idea. Surely their boyfriend hadn’t broken up with them literally the night before.
The music made the floorboards beneath Buck’s boots shake. “ I’m beatin’ on my lonely drum…” played over the speakers.
To the left, a bunch of bobbing heads. The hell? What’s going on over there? The deafening country music barely covered the sound of people talking and feet pounding the ground to the music. Buck found Maddie and Chim, both of whom found a table in the corner overlooking the sea of bobbing heads, some with cowboy hats, others bare. One guy in the center of the dancing crowd took off his hat, barking orders at the crowd surrounding him. “Tag! 5, 6, 7, 8!”
Buck watched the man in fascination, sliding into his seat haphazardly and leaning on the wall near the railing separating the dance floor from the bar. He couldn’t help but notice the way the corners of the man’s eyes creased when he smiled wide or how he looked with pride at the others shuffling around him. The man’s skin shone with sweat under the multi-colored lights, his free hand swiping through his dark brown hair before he put his hat back on. Woah. I wonder…
With a final stomp, the song came to an end. The crowd cheered, high-fiving each other as they began wandering off of the wide dance floor. Despite the crowd moving around, Buck’s eyes lingered on the man, who had moved to the front of the stage. “Hello, everyone,” he said into a microphone, his chest rising with heavy breaths, making Buck’s heart skip. “If you don’t know, my name’s Eddie. My line dance lesson just finished, but if you’re interested, I’m teaching again next week. Classes are free for the rest of the month, so take advantage of this, folks! I’ll hand it over to the country dancers. Thank you!”
With that, Eddie stepped off of the stage and began his way over to the bar. Buck continued to watch him as he walked up the stairs leading to the bar. Eddie noticed Buck, grinned, and gave a curt nod. Buck’s stomach dropped. Oh no, what is happening? Wait, this soon? There’s no way. Wait, what about Tommy? He has to have texted me by now. Buck reached into his pocket for his phone. Again, there was nothing. “Buck,” Maddie said, patting the table in front of him. “Do you want anything? Chim’s going over now.”
Buck threw a glance at the bar—at Eddie—before shaking his head. “I’ll go myself. Thanks, though.”
Chim nodded, turning to go to the bar. “Evan,” Maddie said, leaning toward him. “Are you alright? You looked a little… distracted.”
“What do you…oh. That,” Buck said, his eyes falling to the table. “No, I was just thinking about Tommy.”
“What did I say? Look forward. Embrace it, Evan.”
Buck glanced up at his sister. She was probably right, even though he didn’t want to admit it. Tommy probably wouldn’t wait. Eddie probably wouldn’t wait either. Dammit. “Alright, Maddie. You win.”
Buck stood—shooting Maddie a final look—and exhaled before making his way to the bar. Chim snuck past with two beers in hand, turning to watch Buck as they crossed paths. “I thought,” Chim began, shrugging after a moment and heading back to the table.
Everything in Buck’s body froze as he neared the bar. His eyes fixed on the back of Eddie's head. What am I doing? It's too soon. I literally just… Maddie’s words rang in his ears for a moment. Look forward . Buck drew in a breath before approaching the bar. Even through the pounding music, deafening voices, and clinking glasses, an awkward silence welcomed itself into Buck's mind. “Can I get you something?”
Buck nearly leapt out of his skin at the bartender's voice. Buck fought his way through the awkward silence. “Water, please. On the rocks.”
The bartender bobbed his brows, but went to fetch a glass to fill up with Buck’s water. “Not feeling too risky today, eh Buddie?”
Buck turned, looking toward the voice. Shit . It was Eddie. Play it cool, Buck. “Nah,” he said, narrowing his eyes in a ‘cool’ way. “Designated driver, y'know.”
What the fuck, Buck.
Eddie chuckled, taking a sip of his beer. He must have noticed the cringe Buck was obviously failing to hide. “Don't worry, man. There's enough room in the world for the designated drivers. Heaven knows I'm going to need one after tonight.”
It was Buck’s turn to chuckle. The bartender placed his glass of ice water in front of him. A deep, refreshing gulp made him realize just how dry his throat was. “So,” Eddie said, setting his beer down. “What's your name, Mr. Designated Driver?”
Buck hesitated. “My name? Evan Buckley. Everybody calls me Buck.”
“A pleasure, Buck. Name's Eddie,” he said, that smile of his growing on his face once more. “I hope I'm a part of the ‘Everybody’ that can call you Buck?”
“Yeah,” Buck said, reaching for his water to cool his pounding heart. “Yeah, you are.”
“Good to know. If push comes to shove tonight, could you give me a ride home? You seem like a decent guy.”
Buck felt his cheeks get warm. Is this guy… inviting me to his place? We literally just met! Buck cleared his throat, drumming his fingers against the bar. I guess… “Sure,” he said, smiling before downing the rest of his water. “Why not?”
Eddie grinned, touching the brim of his hat with a finger. “Thanks, Buck,” he said, finishing his drink. “Sorry if I made things complicated with your group, but I really appreciate it. I didn’t come with anyone, and I didn’t think about how I was gonna get home.”
Buck thanked the bartender as he grabbed his glass and filled it again. “Well,” he said, trying hard to hide his heart as it hopped in his ribs. “Are you seeing anyone right now?” Smooth, Buck. Nice and easy.
“No, not since my wife died a couple of years ago.”
Damn it, Buck. Not the dead wife… “Sorry, man, I didn’t mean to…” Buck began, his voice trailing off.
“No,” Eddie said, shaking his head. His dark eyes lingered on the swirling amber liquid at the bottom of his glass. “Don’t worry about it. Like I said, a couple of years. I had my time. I’ve been on a few dates, but nothing stuck, you know?”
“Yeah, actually. I do.”
*
The night seemed to fly past with the conversation at the bar. Eddie explained how he got into line dancing as a hobby after his wife died. Kind of a coping mechanism, he had told Buck. Then he offered a private lesson. Buck thought his heart had stopped for a moment. There was no way things could be this good. “We’ll have to do this again sometime,” Eddie said as he and Buck stepped out of the bar. “I enjoyed talking to you, Buck.”
“Yeah, me too. With you, I mean,” Buck said, riding on his cloud of validated feelings. “Still need a ride?”
“That’d be great if you could, thanks.”
The car ride to Eddie’s was quiet in the back, where Maddie was passed out on Chim’s shoulder. The front seat, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. Buck and Eddie talked like birds in the trees on a hot summer day. Eddie drove the conversation, and Buck was merely a very willing passenger. While Eddie carried on and on about his line dances, Buck sat and smiled along. Then, the conversation lulled. Eddie was seemingly out of words. “So,” he said, looking over at Buck. “You ever line danced before?”
“A couple of times. A high school dance or two, you know? Awkward shuffle here, awkward shimmy there.”
Eddie chuckled, sitting up as they turned down his street. “I’m a couple of houses down. On the right.”
Buck parked alongside the curb in front of Eddie’s quaint little home – a tiny tan house with a tile roof. In Buck’s head, this house was significantly bigger, perhaps with an entire studio around the back, with the way Eddie talked. Buck craned his neck as Eddie stepped out of the car. No studio by the looks of it… “Thanks, Buck,” Eddie said, yanking Buck from his thoughts. “Appreciate it.”
“Wait,” Buck said as Eddie turned back to walk to the house. “Do you want to meet up tonight? I can drop these two off and come back here.”
Eddie furrowed his brow. “And what,” he asked, chuckling. “Have another beer?”
Buck’s face fell. He unbuckled and stepped out of the van. “I thought you were, you know…”
“I was what?”
Buck cleared his throat, blinking hard. Is he serious? “You were… flirting with me.”
Eddie’s eyes got wide. If he hadn’t run out of words before, he certainly had then. “I-I,” he stuttered, his cheeks getting red. “N-no. I just…”
Buck’s stomach clenched. Wait a minute… is he… “Are you alright?”
Eddie lifted his hat off his head and held it over his chest. “Yeah, it’s just that… I’m straight. Sorry if that interfered with your plans for tonight, but you should probably know that I’m very much straight.”
“That’s ok,” Buck said. Ow. “If you’re ok with it, we can be friends. Nothing between us besides… dudes hanging out?”
“Yeah sure. Nothing going on at all. I’d hate to make things super awkward between us right away.”
“Yeah,” Buck said, shoving his throbbing heart down. “I’ll come to your lesson next week. How about that?”
“Yeah,” Eddie said, turning away. “I’ll see you then.”
Buck didn’t bother sticking around to watch Eddie rush into his house. He climbed into the car and leaned his head against the steering wheel. God, I can’t believe I was flirting with a straight man…
Chapter Text
“Well,” Maddie said, setting her mug of coffee down on the table. “Are you going tonight?”
Buck paused mid-coffee sip. “‘Scuse me?”
“You were chatting up that line dance teacher at Hotshots quite a bit the other day. Didn't he say free lessons for the rest of the month?”
Buck cringed. He had tried not to think about Eddie the past week, especially not that night. “I'm very much straight,” played over and over in Buck's head. I still can't believe I did that.
Maddie squinted, tilting her head as she grinned. “Did something happen between you and the line dance teacher?”
Buck shook his head, taking a hefty swig of his coffee. It was a bit more bitter than his last sip. “Nothing a heavy dose of awkwardness couldn’t kill,” he said, setting his mug down.
“So, something happened, but nothing good ?”
“He told me he’s straight,” Buck said, raising his fingers for air quotes. “ ‘Very much’ straight. Couldn’t be any further from good, Mads.”
As Buck finished, Chimney strode into the kitchen with a bundled newspaper under his arm. He pulled up a chair next to Maddie and smiled as she poured him a mug of coffee. “So Buck,” Chim said, putting a hand on Maddie’s. “Do you want someone to go with you? Your sister… Perhaps your emotional support brother-in-law?”
“You just wanna go to Hotshots again?”
“I just wanna go to Hotshots again.”
*
Buck basked in the familiar neon lights outside of Hotshots. Unlike the previous week, there were a few more spots left to park and the windows weren’t shaking with bassed up country. Chim and Maddie walked past him, pausing to look at the bar before looking back to Buck. He lingered by the Odyssey, his stomach swirling. This is a bad idea. Such a bad idea. “You coming, Buck? The lesson starts in, like, ten minutes,” Maddie said, smiling at him.
He nodded, tugging his leather jacket tighter over his shoulders before joining Chim and Maddie. The inside of the bar was only a bit quieter than the outside, which really wasn’t saying much. There were a bunch of people at the bar waiting on drinks – Buck noticed a girl who was chewing on a peanut looking him up and down – a group opposite of dance floor, and on the dance floor itself – facing away from everyone else – was him. Eddie . Buck sucked in a breath. Why am I doing this to myself? Nonetheless, Buck made his way to the floor and plastered on a smile he hoped didn’t look strained.
Eddie turned from the stage, his face lighting up with a smile as he noticed Buck approaching. “Hey, Buck,” he said, reaching out a hand to shake. “How’ve you been?”
He wasn’t wearing his hat. Pieces of his dark hair spilled down his forehead. “I’m good. And you?”
Crow’s feet appeared at the corners of Eddie’s eyes at the question. “I’ve been good. I want to thank you again for last week. I really appreciate the ride.”
Buck nodded, his eyes drifting to Eddie’s smile. He had a nice smile, one of those where even if Eddie wasn’t smiling, you could still see the wrinkles running from the corners of his mouth to his nose. “Yeah,” Buck said slow, swallowing to draw himself back. He’s straight, Buck. “Of course. Let me know if you need a ride again.”
“Will do,” Eddie said, grabbing his phone from the back pocket of his boot-cut jeans. “Thanks. You here for the lesson?”
Buck nodded, clearing his throat. He’s straight. “Yeah.”
“Great. I guess I just have a couple things to ask you,” Eddie said, cracking his fingers as he looked Buck in the eyes. “How much line dance experience do you have?”
Buck pressed his lips together. “I did a couple at some high school dances.”
“That’s right. Awkward shuffle, awkward shimmy. I got you. Do you remember any that you did?”
“I think one was Cupid Shuffle. Macarena was pretty big too.”
Eddie chuckled, his shoulders bouncing gently. Buck grinned. “That’s a start,” Eddie said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, you’ve done Cupid, you’ve done Macarena. Have you heard of Tush Push?”
Buck’s eyes went wide as he slowly shook his head. “The hell kind of name is that?”
Again, Eddie chuckled. Buck almost cracked a smile at how rich that chuckle was. He’s straight. But he’s still kinda… no… stop it. “Care to demonstrate the ‘Tush Push’ then,” Buck said, backing away to give Eddie room for a demonstration.
“Only if you’ll learn it, Buck,” Eddie said.
He nodded, waving a dismissive hand. How bad can it be?
Eddie scrolled through his phone for a moment, waiting another moment before an upbeat country song began booming from a small speaker. Buck watched Eddie find his place while the instrumental played, noticing as he shifted his weight to the front of his black polished boots. And then he began. The song itself wasn’t super fast, but it was still quick enough that it made each kick Eddie did seem to blur together. Then he wasn’t kicking but… shaking his hips. Oh. So that’s where the name comes from. Buck huffed out a breath as he watched Eddie shuffle and turn before stopping and clapping. “That's the whole thing,” Eddie said, glancing at Buck without a strand of brown hair out of place. “Think you're down to learn?”
“Sure,” Buck said, shuffling his feet a bit. “I’m down.”
“Great, I’ll do Tush Push for the beginners lesson. You want to be in the front row, middle of the pack?”
Buck nodded. He wasn’t entirely sure what force compelled him to stay glued to the floor as Eddie called everyone over, nor when all of the extra people arrived. Dozens of others filed into rows, leaving Buck smack dab in the middle of the line closest to the stage. Eddie walked to the front of the group with a headset on and adjusted his volume on his pack. “Check, check. Welcome to the second week of my line dance boot camp here at Hotshots everyone. I’m guessing you all are here for the beginners lesson?”
A chorus of yells and whoops rose from around the room, drawing a smile out of Eddie. “Glad to hear it, everyone! Before we begin, there are some things I want to remind everyone,” Eddie said, stepping onto the stage.
Buck watched, his eyes growing a bit heavy. Eddie’s words melded together somewhere between Buck’s ears and mind, not that it mattered. It was something like, “keep your drinks off the floor” or whatnot. Buck was designated driver again, so he didn’t have to worry about that. I wonder if he’ll need a ride again. “Alright, now what we’re going to be doing tonight. My buddy here and I decided that Tush Push is going to be our dance tonight.”
Eddie gestured to Buck, and then gave him a wink. God, is he doing this on purpose? Buck felt his cheeks grow warm as he looked at the people around him, smiling and trying to hide the fact that his stomach swirled at the image of Eddie’s wink as it played over and over in his mind. He looked over his shoulder and his stomach stopped and promptly sank. The girl from the bar who was chewing on a peanut was behind him, looking him up and down like a predator deciding on prey. She grinned. Buck cleared his throat and returned his gaze to Eddie, who was choosing a song to do the line dance to. “Ok,” Eddie said, standing straight. “These are your steps. Mind you, there are a couple different ways of doing this dance, but this is the way I learned it.”
Eddie stuck his right heel out. “Heel,” he said, pausing as he brought the toe of his boot beside his other foot. “Toe, then double heel. Then you switch and do the same with the left foot.”
Buck watched carefully, kicking his right foot, then his left. “Now, you’re going to do three single kicks. Right, left, right,” Eddie said, pausing. “And a clap to finish this section. Let’s do that part a couple more times to practice.”
Heel, toe, heel, heel. Heel, toe, heel, heel. Right, and left, and right, clap. Buck repeated Eddie’s words just under his breath, kicking and clapping along with everyone else. Then it was onto the next section: the hips. “Your right hip is going to bump forward twice, then twice back with your left,” Eddie said, bumping his hips forward, then back. “Then, you swivel your hips for four counts. If you don’t want to swivel, you can just go right hip forward, left hip back, forward, back.”
The group repeated the section a couple of times, then moved onto the shuffles. Triple forward, rock step, triple back, rock step. Triple forward, half turn, triple forward, half turn, quarter turn, and clap. This isn’t too bad. Buck grinned up at Eddie, who watched the group as he called out the steps for the second wall. He met Buck’s gaze and returned a smile. All of the moves simultaneously disappeared from his head, and Buck froze. The air stilled around Buck despite the dancers around him carrying on kicking their feet.
Eddie stood above them all, silhouetted by the lights overhead. C’mon Buck, cut it out! You gotta catch up now. Buck scrambled, glancing at the people around him. Triple forward.
*
Buck sat at the bar, the idea of an IPA in his hand sounding sweeter and sweeter as the music pounded louder. The line dances had become more difficult as the night went on, so he had to tap out. “‘Nother rock water, bud?”
The bartender walked over and tapped the bar in front of Buck. Buck grinned, tilting his head as he leaned back in his stool. “For your information,” Buck said, his grin growing. “It's water on the rocks. And yes, please.”
The bartender chuckled, grabbing a fresh glass and putting some ice in it. “Driving tonight?”
“Yeah,” Buck said, nodding his thanks as the bartender replaced his glass. “Got my sister and her husband here tonight. If they weren't here, I might have grabbed an IPA or something, but duty calls.”
“What about Eddie?”
Buck paused, his face falling. “What about Eddie?”
“He a part of your group too? I saw you two leave together last week,” the bartender said, bouncing his brows.
“Oh, no. It's n-not like that. He just asked for a ride home. That's it.”
“Don't worry man, I get it. He told you he's straight, right?”
“Yeah, he did. How'd you know?”
The bartender paused, grabbing empty glasses and washing them. “I asked him out one of the first nights he came here.”
Buck paused, looking the bartender up and down. “Wait, you're… gay?”
“I'm bi, actually,” the bartender said, wiping down a glass. “Don't seem like it, hmm?”
“N-no, that's not it, I just-”
“No worries, friend. I'm a bartender, I'm supposed to be unassuming. Makes for deeper, customer-focused conversation. Anything for tips, y'know?”
“Yeah,” Buck said, leaning forward. “What's your name?”
“Brian. And you?”
“Buck. You got a napkin and a pen somewhere?”
Brian the bartender held up a finger before walking to the till. He came back with a napkin and a pen, just as Buck requested. “What's your plan, Buck?”
Buck popped the pen cap off and began writing. “I'm gonna give you my number. In case you, y'know, don't have any plans after your shift tonight. I know I don't.”
Buck pushed the napkin back toward Brian, waiting until he picked it up before capping the pen and sliding that toward him as well. “It'll be late, Buck. Are you sure?”
“Who needs sleep? I certainly don't,” Buck said, flashing a wink.
Eddie’s wink bludgeoned its way back into Buck's mind. Shit. What am I doing? “Sure,” Brian said, setting the last of the glasses down. “Why not? I'll text you when I leave. It'll probably be around 1.”
Brian smiled, watching Buck as he folded the napkin and put it in his pocket. “See you later,” he said before moving down the bar to help a new person.
Buck nodded, grinning as he looked at his water. Too late to reconsider now. Damn. “Hey. What's going on, Buck?”
Buck's stomach clenched. Shit. He turned and found Eddie standing behind him, or rather, sliding into the stool next to him. Not who I need to see right now. “Not much. Just talking to one of the bartenders.”
“Really,” Eddie said, signaling for a drink. “Was that all you were doing?”
“Yeah. I needed a break after the lesson, and the bartender started talking to me. So here I am.”
Eddie grinned, nodding his thanks as his drink was delivered. “Really working for that 20%,” Eddie paused, taking a deep drink from his glass.
“More like 25%,” Buck said, taking a drink from his water.
Eddie laughed. “Well, so long as you feel nice enough to give that much. Do you think you'll be back on the floor tonight? They always leave a spot in the middle for line dancers.”
“No. I've got plans later tonight, so I should go home sooner rather than later. I can give you a ride if you need it yet.”
Eddie just barely narrowed his dark eyes, as if to study Buck. “No,” Eddie said, taking another drink. “I'll find someone else. Thanks, though.”
Buck nodded, grabbing his glass and slamming the rest of the drink back. I need to get out of here before… something happens. “Well, I better head out,” Buck said, setting his glass down. “Gotta do some cleaning up at home.”
Eddie nodded, a bit surprised by the looks of it. “Ok. I'll see you next week?”
“Yeah. See you then.”
Before Eddie could say anything else, Buck was already rushing to the till to close his tab. He locked eyes with Maddie across the bar. We need to go. She nodded. Buck never understood how, but Maddie always seemed able to understand what he was thinking. The bartender at the till flipped the tablet, revealing the tip percentage. Buck clicked 20%.
Bleu56 on Chapter 1 Thu 01 May 2025 08:57PM UTC
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eutony_majime on Chapter 1 Thu 01 May 2025 09:08PM UTC
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guiltyaschanged on Chapter 1 Thu 01 May 2025 10:05PM UTC
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eutony_majime on Chapter 1 Fri 02 May 2025 01:27AM UTC
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guiltyaschanged on Chapter 2 Mon 12 May 2025 03:13PM UTC
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Perrythequeerplatypus on Chapter 2 Tue 10 Jun 2025 03:45PM UTC
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