Is ‘9-1-1’ making “baby steps” toward a Buck & Eddie romance? Ryan Guzman fans the flames

Even before the latest season of ABC’s hit first-responder drama 9-1-1 began, fans had been wondering if firefighter buds Evan “Buck” Buckley (Oliver Stark) and Edmundo “Eddie” Díaz (Ryan Guzman) were destined to become something more.

“We get closer than ever this season,” Guzman told EW at a pre-premiere event, setting off fire alarms in the minds of “Buddie”—the portmanteau adopted by fans of the BFFs—’shippers everywhere. How close? Like, relationship close?

Thus far, season 7 of the show has been inching closer and closer to that possibility, especially as Buck has acknowledged his attraction to men, begun dating paramedic Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.), and even come out to his friends and colleagues as bisexual.

So, sure, Buck might be preoccupied right now, but that doesn’t mean the closes the door on any chance at a Buddie fling, right?

“We just got to the point where Buck is having this own personal growth of himself,” Guzman tells TV Insider in a new interview, “so it’s like baby steps towards anything and if anything.” Which is not a “no”—that door’s still ajar, folks!

As some folks have pointed out, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that 9-1-1 is laying the groundwork for these two pals to realize they have deeper feelings for one another. After all, part of the reason Buck and Tommy connected was because the former was getting jealous of the latter spending time with Eddie.

But who was jealous of who here?

Meanwhile, Eddie’s having some personal crises of his own. Though his romance with Marisol (Edy Ganem) has been moving along in fits and starts, the latest episode, “Ghost Of A Second Chance,” found him nearly throwing it all away after a run in with a woman named Kim, who looks an awful lot like his ex-wife Shannon (and, in fact, is played by the same actress, Devin Kelly, albeit with a different hair color).

Oof, sounds complicated. But, maybe through that messy tangle of grief and love and other emotions, Eddie will achieve some “personal growth,” too, and realize what—or who—he’s really been searching for has been standing right next to him this whole time: Buck.

Wishful thinking, sure, but we’re holding out hope!

In the meantime, Guzman is just thrilled 9-1-1 is making space for Buck to explore his bisexuality on a mainstream network TV show, speaking eloquently about the importance of the ongoing Buddie friendship:

As he shares with TV Insider, he’s proud of what the storyline is “showcasing on national television: a bisexual man coming out to a heterosexual man and having the strength to do such, and then having the heterosexual man giving that man a safe space to be caught in and to be loved and nurtured.”

“I think there’s still an air out there in the world that your sexuality preference determines if you’re weak or not, or determines if you’re capable or not, of being just a good human being, which is such a crazy thing to think about,” Guzman adds. “I love that we get to dispel that ideology and we get to showcase and reflect to the world that your sexual preference has no meaning in friendships and connection. Accept people for who they are, love people for who they are, and let’s keep it pushing. Let’s have fun. Let’s have a great time.”

Wait… that’s kind of beautiful!

While many of us will continue to shout, “OH, JUST KISS ALREADY!” at our TVs every time Buck and Eddie share scenes together, Guzman brings up some solid points that, by continuing to devote screen time to their platonic friendship, 9-1-1 is doing something perhaps even more impactful and queer-affirming.

Guzman sums it up nicely: “So I think with all the love that we’ve gotten and all the ideas of Eddie and Buck being together, the truth of the matter is right now that we need to live in this space and showcase this so the world can see that this is how you handle this situation.”

And, hey, there are still three episodes left in this season—who knows what else can happen! No matter what, you can still count on the Buddie ‘shippers to keep on ‘shippin’: