9-1-1 One Shots - BUDDIE

The Birds and the Bees

Buck and Eddie were chilling in Eddie's kitchen, Buck sitting at the table while he watched Eddie prepare dinner. They'd be discussing Eddie's recent troubles with Christopher, the man citing that his 14-year-old son was being illusive and mysterious about his life at school. Buck had tried reassuring Eddie that this was a normal part of being a teenager, but his words had fallen on deaf ears. Eddie was very protective of Christopher and was struggling to adjust to the boy's transition to his teenage years.

"- I'm just worried about him y'know? He used to tell me everything and now talking to him is like drawing blood from a stone" Eddie fretted, peeling a carrot with gusto.

Buck shook his head. "He's probably just got a crush or something, Eddie, don't stress too much. I never spoke to my parents about anything at his age".

Eddie sent his friend a frustrated look. "That's not a fair comparison and you know it."

"Yeah well, if there's something serious going on I'm sure he'd tell you" Buck shrugged.

"Easy for you to say, the kid tells you everything" Eddie grumbled, putting down the carrot and grabbing a bell pepper, beginning to dice it.

"Not everything" Buck corrected, "he's been pretty quiet with me too".

"Well, that's a bit concerning".

The boys' conversation was cut short as they heard the front door open and the sound of Christopher's crutches on the wood.

"I'm home!"

"Hey mijo, we're in the kitchen!" Eddie called, gesturing for Buck to clear some space on the table for the kid's bag.

Christopher entered the kitchen and dumped his school bag on the table, reaching over to give Buck a hug.

"How was your day, kid?" Buck asked, ruffling his hair.

Christopher ducked his head away and smoothed his hair. "Good" he responded; his answer so short that it sounded like "Gd".

Eddie sent Buck a pointed look to as if to say "See what I mean", which Buck ignored, instead taking a drink of his beer.

"What would you like for dinner, mijo? I was thinking we could- "

"-Dad, what's a handjob?"

Eddie froze, thinking he'd misheard, as Buck inhaled his beer in shock, coughing and spluttering.

"What was that?" he asked, looking at his son with disbelief, refusing to believe that his son would have even heard of such a thing.

"What's a handjob?" Christopher repeated, looking at the two men in confusion and grabbing a snack off the table.

Eddie didn't even know where to start.

"Where, uh.... where did you hear about this?" he asked carefully.

"Jack and Tyler were talking about them at school. They asked if I'd had one before, but I didn't know what it was, so I said yes. They seemed pretty impressed so it must be something good" Christopher said casually.

Eddie cursed internally. Trust a bunch of schoolboys to ruin his son's innocence. He put down the bell pepper he'd been cutting and pulled up a chair, sitting across from Christopher so he could look his son in the eyes. The boy didn't seem embarrassed, he was more concerned about Buck who was in the process of mopping himself up.

Taking a deep breath, Eddie thought he might test the boy's understanding of what he was asking.

"Do you know what it might be related to?" he asked, sending Buck a look, begging him with his eyes to help him out.