Stay, For Me

Nine

"Kinda yeah," I replied, "my anxiety was tearing me apart like a paper shredder."

"I would never do that," Buck responded, "I love you Edmundo, you and Chris are my family. I wouldn't just take off like that, it hurts knowing that thought even crossed your mind. You're the love of my life Eddie, I'm not about to walk out on that."

"I'm sorry mi amor," I whispered, "I'm sorry for hurting you, and I'm sorry that I left."

I kneeled down beside Buck and hugged him close, kissing the top of his head gently. Buck threw his arms around me and burrowed into my side.

"Your wallet is still here by the way," Buck said quietly, "You're lucky you didn't get pulled over."

"Athena said something similar," I responded, "it was a stupid mistake, leaving in the first place."

I suddenly had the desire to get food, Buck's stomach growled a little bit, indicating he was hungry.

"C'mon let's get some food," I suggested, "we're both hungry and obviously neither one of us are very tired right now."

"Yeah that's true," Buck replied, "and I'm pretty sure every light in the house is still on."

"Probably," I chuckled, "they were when I came home."

I stood up and pulled Buck to his feet, brushing my thumb across his knuckles as I did. The two of us walked out to the kitchen, sure enough the lights were still on. Buck sat on the counter and looked at me, his eyes were still sad. I stood between Buck's legs and leaned forward, resting my forehead against his shoulder.

"I'm sorry Buck," I whispered, "I'm sorry I hurt you, I'm sorry I took off, and I'm sorry that I made you cry."

"I know," Buck said quietly, "and I forgive you. I even understand why you left, I probably would've done the same thing if I'd asked you. I'm just sad that you thought I'd leave my family without a word. After everything we've gone through together, you should know better than anyone, that I'd never leave you."

"I know that and I'm sorry," I replied, "my anxiety screwed me up. Asking you to move in was a huge step and it scared the hell out of me Buck."

"It's okay Edmundo," Buck responded, "I love you and that's all that matters. For the record I'm excited to move in, although it'll take a little bit of time for me to get out of my lease."

"That's okay," I stated, "after the way things went down I'm just happy you still want to move in."

"Enough of these tough feelings," Buck laughed, "I'm too tired and too hungry to deal with this anymore tonight. Now let's get some food."

I chuckled and stepped away from Buck. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Buck shiver, instinctively I took my t-shirt off and handed it to him. He put the shirt on and smiled at me.

"What do you want to eat mi amor?" I asked.

"We still got those chocolate chip toaster waffles?" He responded.

"Yeah we do," I stated, "I always buy extras because I know you and Chris both like them."

I pulled the box of toaster waffles out of the freezer and put four waffles in the toaster. There was a low chuckle behind me and I felt Buck's arms slide around my midsection.

"What's so funny?" I questioned.

"Your back," he chuckled, "I guess my nails are sharper than I thought."

Buck ran his fingers down my back tracing the paths his nails had created just a few hours earlier. He gently kissed my shoulder as he moved closer to me. Buck's touch was gentle and warm as he held me. The toaster popped and Buck stepped aside grabbing some plates from the cupboard. I pulled the butter out of the fridge and the cinnamon from the spice rack. Once I'd sprinkled the cinnamon across the tops of the waffles I set the plates on the counter in front of Buck.