thinking about why bucktommy feel so different and why maybe so many of us have latched on to them the way we have and I can’t speak for everyone else but for me, it’s very simply - the romance of it all. one of the elements I’ve always found to be missing or lacking in buck’s previous romantic relationships was the romance. and this isn’t a dig at his past relationships, honestly the writing didn’t set them up for success. but with buck and tommy, there’s such a strong level of romance injected in their moments that it’s hard not to fall for them, fall with them.
i mean, it’s there from the beginning. there’s romance present in the way buck reacts to and remembers tommy’s mouth static. in the way he reaches out and places his hand on tommy’s shoulder after seeing bobby and athena reunite; in the way tommy reaches back. it’s present in the way buck tries and tries and tries to spend time with tommy before he even knows what his feelings are; in the way tommy comes over in person to check in on him. there’s romance present in every “evan”, every “hey”, and every “of course” that escapes tommy’s lips. there’s romance written all over their first kiss. in the way tommy says “i can teach you” and in buck’s head tilt and “okay, and will that be right after our flying lessons.”
there’s romance in tommy topping up buck’s beer and paying for their date (even though buck is the one who owes him the beer). it’s present in the way buck can’t stop thinking about tommy, and in the way they both meet each other half-way after a bump in the road. it’s in the way buck fusses over tommy’s lack-of-a costume; and in tommy’s dry, deadpan response to buck’s fuss. there’s romance in buck’s pouty-ness when he realizes tommy has to leave the party and in the way tommy shows up at the end because he promised he’d try. there’s romance present in the way buck brings tommy into the hospital room after the ceremony — like he’s the guest of honour; in the way they make their relationship known to his loved one’s; and in the way they look for each other’s reactions after ravi makes a joke at the medal ceremony buffet.
there’s romance in the way they look at each other; smitten, piercing. in the way they listen to each other; laser focused, hanging on to every word. in the way they touch each other; gentle, passionate, eager, soft. there’s romance in tommy’s “you okay”, and in the way they can read each other’s moods — when to keep going, when to stop, when to change the topic. there’s romance in the way they can go from serious and vulnerable, to flirty and horny in the span of a minute; in their comfortability with each other. there’s romance present in the way they don’t know everything about each other but are willing and wanting to try, to learn. and there’s romance in the way buck hasn’t had to talk to bobby, about tommy, like he had to about his past partners.
really, there’s so much romance in their whole story thus far, in the big moments and the little ones, and this is just the beginning. and also, the potential for more romance — a deeper, aching, fulfilling, forever-kind-of-romance — is so so so great.