This Year is My Year

Off Schedule

I watched Y/N sleep, smiling at the hickeys I had left across her collarbone. I traced each of them as she snored, careful to be gentle with my touch. She stirred, her eyes still closed, and I brought my face close to hers, wrapping my arms around the small of her back. I watched her smile lazily as I kissed her neck, trying to wake her up.

"Morning, handsome," she yawned. I grinned – I liked my new nickname.

"Morning, dove," I replied, still kissing her neck. I moved to her ear as she wrapped her arms around my neck. She giggled as I rolled onto her, running my hands under the Hellfire shirt she was wearing.

"Eddie Munson, it is barely seven in the morning," she laughed as she kissed me back, pulling me close to her. I smiled into her touch before pulling away. She kept her arms around my neck, grinning up at me. I traced her side with my thumb.

"Tired from last night?" I teased, waggling my eyebrows. Her jaw dropped.

"Eddie Munson, you are a nightmare!" she squealed, trying to wriggle out of my grasp. I pulled her close, tickling her sides as we laughed together, rolling around the bed. We paused, smiling at one another. I felt an overwhelming sense of déjà vu, remembering the second time I failed to kiss her.

I wish I could go back and tell that Eddie about where the two of us were now. She scooted close to me, kissing me softly.

"You ready to be an outdoorsman?" she asked, teasing me. I winked.

"I don't think you're ready for how outdoorsy I'm about to be," I replied, kissing her forehead. She smiled, burying her face into my chest, my head flooding with her scent. I wondered for a minute if we could send the rest of the group on the trip, the two of us staying in bed for the entirety of my spring break.

"Rise and shine, lovebirds!" Robin ordered, pounding on the door. "We are set to leave at oh-eight-hundred! No excuses!"

I rolled my eyes and Y/N kissed my neck, making me smile. I looked down at her.

"I think as the one who's driving, you would have the excuse of missing her deadline," she teased.

~~~

No one took my schedule seriously. I had spent a week planning everything for these ungrateful bozos, and all I have been met with talk of how I'm doomsday prepping and overdoing it.

We would see how they felt when one of them got bit by a rattlesnake.

Y/N walked into the kitchen, wearing one of Eddie's Iron Maiden shirts and a flannel. She grinned at me.

"Hey, buddy – you ready for the trip?" she asked, kissing me on the forehead. I crossed my arms.

"We are eighteen minutes behind schedule," I whined. Instead of being apologetic, she smiled at me. I hated being the baby brother sometimes.

"I think we will be fine if we are twenty minutes late to the campsite, bud."

"Oh, now we're planning on being twenty minutes late?" I was incredulous – how was this laissez-faire bum my sister? She laughed at me, ruffling my hair. All of this, even after she had refused to let me have a beer last night.

"I don't know how you manage to be my protégé and this uptight, little one," Eddie quipped, following my sister. I glared at him as he spun her into his grasp, making her laugh as he started kissing her all over her face. I sneered.

"If you weren't so busy with your hanky-panky business, Eddie, we would have left on time!" I snapped. They both stopped, eyebrows raised. I suddenly felt embarrassed, realizing what I said. Eddie was trying not to laugh, and Y/N was twisting her mouth so she wouldn't laugh. I looked at my feet – I was just excited about camping!