With and Without You

chapter 5

That night, we hung out and talked, catching up. We had been drinking and are both pretty drunk at this point. How we were balancing on the barstools, I don't know.
"I can't believe you're wearing this." He says, holding up the dice hanging around my neck.
"Are you really that surprised? Before.... everything, I never took it off. I didn't wear it during our time apart. I couldn't. I hurt too much when I saw it. Then Dustin pulled me back into Hellfire, and I finally could put it on. I knew I needed all the help I could get. Haven't taken it off sense."
"Do you remember when I gave it to you?" He asked.
"Of course. We had been friends for about 6 months, and we had just completed our first campaign together. You guys declared me queen of Hellfire sense I kicked ass and saved the day. You said it was the first die you got. I said I couldn't take your die, and you insisted. You know, after all these years, you never have told me why."
"I wanted you to have something that was important to me because you are even more important. I wanted you to always have a piece of me with you. After that short of time, I knew I always wanted to be in your life and that I always needed you in mine." He let go of the dice. I caress his cheek. He places his hand over mine.
"We will always be in each other's life. We are in this thing together till death. I'm not abandoning you. We might fight, but I will always be there." I says, placing my forehead to his. I feel him relax, and he places his hand on my thigh. The feeling caused heat to rise through my body. If only he knew what he did to me. I pull away slightly. We are inches from each other. We look into each other's eyes. It's taking everything I have to keep from jumping on him. He looks as if he's about to do the same, but I must just be seeing things. My hand slides down from his cheek, down his arm, to his thigh. I slide it slowly to his knee.
"Um, let's put that movie in." He says, brushing some hair out of my face. His hand slowly traces down my neck. My breath hitches.
"Uh, yea. That sounds good."

We walk over towards the couch, and he puts in Gremlins, and he sits down, putting his legs up across the couch. I slide next to him and lay on his chest. Within minutes, the rise and fall of his chest and steady heartbeat has me asleep. I've always been able to sleep peacefully with him around. Without him, let's just say I've grown accustomed to running on little sleep.

It's now morning, and the sun begins to peak through the window, causing me to wake. I rub my eyes and find myself looking at the bedroom wall. Eddie's arm is around my waist. He must've carried me to my room last night. I flip around, so I'm facing him. I peaked over him and looked at the clock. It reads 7:10.
"Eddie......Eddie." I say softly. He doesn't budge. "Eddie, you're going to be late for school. Don't make me make you wake up." I say. A grunt is the only sound he makes. I stare at him a moment. Im glad we are friends again, but him laying there shirtless. I wish I had the courage to tell him. But now it is so far from the right time. I just want things to go back as they were. I take my icy cold hand and place it in the middle of his chest. His eyes burst open.
"Jesus H Christ y/n!"
"I warned you. Now come on. You are graduating this year, so help me... but to do that, you have to actually, I don't know......be in class." He throws the blanket over his head and pulls me closer. His head snuggled against me.
"Uhn uh. I've been good and haven't missed a day. I just want to spend today here. Please. One skip day." He says pleading.
"You make it hard to say no to." I tell him.
"Good to know." I hear him mumble.
"Ok, but seriously. We are getting you graduated."
"Thank you, sweetheart." He says.

The rest of the day was spent goofing off and watching movies. I cooked lasagna, his favorite, for dinner.
"You want a beer?" He asked.
"After last night, probably not the best idea. Plus you have to go to class tomorrow."
"Fine. If I must."
"You must. I'm ready to not have to wait to see ya till after school." I say with a smile. He takes a bite of dinner.
"Mmmm.....God I've missed this."
"I seriously think you've missed my cooking more than hanging with me."
"Don't be jealous." He says with a smirk.

After dinner, Eddie offered to wash the dishes since I cooked. I'm not one to turn down that offer. I went and took a shower and got ready for bed, throwing on some shorts and a plain tee. I walked back out to see Eddie heading towards the door.
"You heading out?" I ask while drying my hair with a towel.
"Does it look like it?" He asked. I stop looking up at him and notice his jacket is still sitting on the chair. "Was gonna spend the night again.....if that's ok?" He asked with a nervous look.
"Of course. You're always welcomed here." I threw the towel on the counter and walked towards him. "You know that."
"I just wasn't sure, you know, after everything."
"Really, now you're worried. You stayed here last night. If I really had an issue, do you really think I would have hesitated to say something when I found you next to me this morning?"
"True. I just didn't want you to feel like I'm forcing you to go back, you know."
"Trust me. Nothing is forced. This is us. No fight can ever stop this. I won't forget what happened, but we both realized we were wrong and we are ready to move on." He locked the door, and he followed me back to my room. I climb in under the covers to warm up.
"Plus, sense you're FORCING ME to go back tomorrow, I might as well get some good sleep." He says as he slips off his shirt.
"How dare I want you to succeed." I say smartly. He starts to walk towards the bed.
"You know your stuff is still in the dresser." I tell him, pointing at it.
"I'm surprised you didn't burn it." He grabs a pair of bottoms. Facing the wall, he slips off his jeans and puts on the pajamas.
"Can't say I wasn't tempted." I say, shutting my eyes. I feel the bed shift from him climbing in. He lies on his back, and I scoot next to him to cuddle up. He kisses the top of my head.
"Night, sweetheart."
"Night, darling."