The Break (An Eddie Munson Story)

Chapter 25: Tickle Wars

A/N: Hello! So, this was a surprisingly difficult chapter to write. I'm not quite suffering from Writer's block but something was preventing me from bringing the characters to life. Hopefully it doesn't read as too flat.

As always, thank you for your continued support. I know I have a few unanswered comments, so I'll try and get around to answering those soon!

*****

Morning dawned too soon for his liking. Rude awakenings had now become a commonplace occurrence in his day to day schedule and Eddie Munson wanted to know who he should file a complaint with because sleep deprivation was playing havoc with his quality of life. He wanted to be enjoying his hours of consciousness, not counting down the minutes when he could crawl back into bed again. You had kindly let him sleep in for as long as possible but you were both sure to be late for school, which neither of you could afford on your records. "Come on, Eds. You gotta get up."

"Go on without me." he groaned, burying his face deeper into the pillows, the mass of curls spilling in every direction possible.

"Absolutely not, my dude. We gotta go conquer another day at Hawkins High, learning important information like  why mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell." you shook his shoulder but to no avail, he was not budging. Instead, he had the audacity to turn his head in your direction and smirk triumphantly, which instantly hit a nerve. You had babysat many children but none quite as difficult as Eddie. Desperate times called for desperate measures, you concluded. "Eddie Munson, I'm going to count to five and if you aren't up by the time I finish, I will tickle you." you teased him, hoping the ultimatum would be enough to get him to move.

His eyes narrowed, as he stared up at you in disbelief, there was no way you would be so cruel. "You wouldn't dare." he challenged you.

"One." you began your countdown.

Eddie attempted to shift nervously away from you by your hands held his sides fast. "Y/N-"

"Two."

"Oh, come on. This is so unfair!" he whined, still refusing to get up, as he hoped to call your bluff.

"Three." you wiggled your fingers threateningly against his sides, which caused him to squirm. "Better go get ready for school, Munson, or face my wrath. Four!"

Something within him finally snapped, as he hastily gathered your waiting hands in his and pried them of himself. "Okay, okay!" he conceeded, completely exasperated that your childish tactics had worked. "I'm up, I'm up! Call off your cavalry." he huffed, running a hand through his unruly locks, that you had determined, had a mind of their own. "You're actually evil, you know that?" he chuckled, finally leaving the room to go shower.

"Don't forget, we're going grocery shopping today!" you called out to him, smiling innocently when the brunet popped his head back around the doorframe.

"You, Y/N Y/L/N, are a tyrant."

You merely responded by sticking your tongue out at him.

Once you were both showered, dressed and fed, you finally hopped into the passenger seat of his truck and set off on your journey towards school. You enjoyed Eddie's morning chatter about the previous day's campaign and asking questions about elements you did not quite understand.

"So, Lareth the Beautiful was actually hiding in a nearby moat house all along?" you asked, trying your best to follow all of the plot points that had played out throughout the night.

"Yeah, it was like his hide out, while he was trying to revive the Temple of Elemental Evil." he clarified, flicking on the left indicator to complete a turn.

"But if he was a human cleric," you frowned, wracking your brains for anybproir knowledge you had on the class in question. "how was he going to do that without magic?"

"Actually, human clerics have divine magic and are capable of using ritualistic spells." Eddie went on to explain more about clerics and the best race to use as a pairing, as you pulled up to the school parking lot.

Once out of the truck, he quickly jogged over to you, as you busied yourself with untangling the straps of your rucksack. "Right," Eddie spoke, sounding like he was preparing for battle, as he placed his hands on either of your shoulders. "as soon as the lunch bell rings at twelve hundred hours, meet me right here, on this exact spot okay?"

You nod with mock seriousness, resisting the urge to fake salute. "Sir, yes, sir."

The brunet snorted at your response, rolling his eyes. "Actually turn up this time, okay? No bunking class or punching douchebags in the face, got it? We have a mission to complete during free period. Now," he leaned in close, so close in fact, you could kiss him if you so wanted to and oh boy, were you tempted but anxiety and the prying eyes of the other students, kept you rooted in place. "I'm not saying it won't be dangerous. I'm not saying it won't strike fear into the bravest of hearts. But together, as a team, we can vanish-"

"Eddie, the registration bell just rang." you rudely interrupted his monologue but with good reason.

His eyes widened in horror, as he tore away from you. "Fuck, forget what I said. It's everything man for himself. Run, go! I'll see you later!" the brunet called over his shoulder, as he raced towards the main building.

The silly grin did not leave your face for most of the morning, not even when Jason dared make an unpleasant comment, as you passed his during your class change after first period. "I mean, who can blame their parents? I'd do the same if my kid started running around with that freak Munson."

Though you had promised Eddie to keep out of trouble where the basketball team were concerned, you had to admit, it was so tempting to just yell something equally as cutting back. You could feel the response on the tip of your tongue, as you pictured the look of satisfaction being wiped off of the blond's permanently smug face.

Before you could even utter a syllable, you name was called above the roaring din of inane chatter and gossip. Looking for the source, you spied upon Ms Kelly, standing with folded arms in the doorway to her office.

The moment to cuss at Jason had seemingly passed, as he and his friends were already out of earshot, as they made their way to their next class. Perhaps Ms Kelly distracting you had been for the best, you grumbled. With the way your face already looked, you could hardly afford any more bruises inflicted upon it.

Trudging over to the teacher, you wondered if she was aware of the trouble she had just prevented from breaking out in the corridor?

"You know, Y/N, you shouldn't let them get a rise out of you." she said, bypassing her usual warm greeting and confirming your suspicions.

"Yeah, I know." you replied dejected. You could not help it. Every time Jason or one of the others said something awful about Eddie, you could not stand on the sidelines and let them think what they were saying was Gospel, that everyone believed it because you did not and you never would. Eddie was twice- no, ten- times the person they would ever be and he deserved a hell of a lot better than what the people of the town had to offer him.

"So," she said, fixing you with a warm smile. "Principal Colemen has asked me to see you for weekly counselling."

You merely nodded in reply, knowing you were about to lose an hour of your life every week, by having to talk about your feelings and why your fist had repeatedly become acquainted with Andy's face.

"How are Friday's after school for you?"

Your heart sank at the thought of staying late on a Friday and then having to return to school for Saturday morning detention the next day but you nodded, knowing you had gotten lucky with your punishment, as opposed to the straight up explusion you should have received instead.

"Great, I'll see you then."