Crash (A 9-1-1 Buddie Fic)

Chapter 2

So, apparently the Ao3 form doesn't like my use of the special I (í) in Tia (Tía) and has been deleting it from my text without me noticing *facepalm*. But I've hopefully fixed it for now, and Tía/Tia Pepa should no longer be showing up as Ta Pepa. Hopefully... o.O

Chapter Text
Chapter 2

Eddie took a moment to gather himself before following his Tía Pepa back into the dining room. Christopher was no longer at the table, no doubt using the bathroom, and Eddie was thankful. Just the very presence of his father brought out the fight in him, it brought out a stubbornness and frustration that he struggled to push back down.

As his Tía cut into the pie, he held out a bowl ready for her to dish the first slice into, and plastered a forced smile onto his face when he passed that slice to his father.

“Hey, you remember a few years back? When I came to Texas on the job?” Eddie started.

“Oh, you mean that time you were too busy to swing by and say hello?” his father replied.

Despite the tone of teasing behind the words, Eddie found his grip tightening on the bowl he currently held onto, his jaw working. “I was working. Which is something I would have thought you would know all about because that was all you ever did.”

“Eddie,” his mother pleaded, moving her hand across the table toward Eddie’s in an attempt to calm him.

He took a breath, biting his tongue. No, this was not the fight he wanted to pick, and as he glanced to his Tía Pepa, he returned to the original point he had been intending to make. “Well, one of the guys we worked with tied the knot a few months back.”

“Oh, isn’t that sweet?” his mother answered, warm smile on her face.

“Yeah, he and his boyfriend really went all out. You should see the pictures, Ma.” But even as he said it, his eyes were very carefully trained on his father. Though, that didn’t stop him from hearing the sigh from Tía Pepa as she lowered her head, knowing full well what he was doing.

“Enough, Edmundo,” his father answered, waving a hand in dismissal and pulling a face of distaste. “I don’t think that is appropriate talk for the dinner table.”

“And what talk is that?” Eddie continued, baiting him.

“You know what talk.”

“Love? Weddings? Marriage?”

“A ver, mi hijo, I know you think I’m old-fashioned, but the church is very clear.” He brought his hands together, raising them up as if in a prayer. “Man should not lie with man. It is a disrespect to the Lord above.”

“Loving someone is a disrespect?” Eddie placed his hands on the table, leaning forward a little as he glared at his father. “Spending your life with someone you care for and who cares for you is a disrespect?”

“It is not what God intended.”

“And what is it that God intends?”

“It should be as it always has been. Marriage is between a man and a woman. A relationship of that kind of love cannot be any other way.”

“Because of God?” Eddie asked. “Or because you say so?”

“Edmundo,” his father started, but Eddie shook his head and pushed away from the table.

He could already hear the tell-tale signs of Chris returning from the bathroom and he had no intention of allowing his son to be exposed to the same hate and discrimination that had made him hate himself for years growing up, and beyond. Prejudice that had him questioning if he was broken as he so desperately tried to fix himself.