In Flames // 9-1-1 Fox (seasons 1-4)

fifty-one

Mariana didn't wake up to the sound of her alarm but rather the feel of calloused hands stroking her side. She let out a soft groan and rolled over, burying her face in her pillow. Her shirt rode up, exposing the skin of her back. Soft lips trailed up her spine and danced along the scars on her back and she huffed out a laugh.

"Mornin'," she greeted, voice rough with disuse.

"Good morning, angelita," Eddie hummed.

"You're insatiable," she laughed, rolling over so she could bring his lips to meet hers. He smiled against her lips and pulled himself up onto her, mindful of keeping all of his weight off of her so he didn't crush her. She drifted her mouth towards his jaw, gently nipping at his neck and ear.

"Can you blame me?" he groaned, tangling one hand in her hair as the other drifted down her lithe, athletic body.

"Shame that I have to ruin this little moment to go get breakfast ready for my favorite person and the menace who lives in this house," she teased and pulled away from him. Eddie sighed and rolled onto his back, watching as she pulled on a pair of pajama pants and entered the bathroom.

"Christopher isn't a menace," he called as she brushed her teeth. The latina spat out her toothpaste and turned back to look at him, leaning her head against the door frame.

"Exactly," she hummed with a wink. Eddie rolled his eyes but laughed at her comment. He loved this. He loved waking up every morning to the brunette in his bed. He loved hearing her teasing from the moment he woke up to the minute he fell asleep.

Even though she practically lived at the Diaz house before he officially asked her, Eddie was learning plenty about his girlfriend everyday. Apparently, Mariana had quite the punk phase in high school and occasionally still played Green Day and Nirvana when she was in a funk. However, she almost exclusively baked to the tunes of ABBA and Fleetwood Mac.

Mariana found that Eddie was a routine guy. It must be from his time in the military, but he was up at six in the morning and out for a run without fail. Sometimes she joined him but she much preferred her runs at eight.

One thing they both danced around was nightmares. They both had them, but they rarely spoke of them and tried their hardest to not wake up the other. Sometimes he woke up to find her sitting on the back porch with that little teddy bear clutched in her hands and sometimes she found him sitting on the front porch, staring down at the dog tags in his hands. They didn't question it and just sat next to their person until they were ready to head back inside.

Eddie pulled himself away from his thoughts as Mariana spoke once more. "I'm gonna start on breakfast while you wake Chris up. Then I need you on toast duty."

"Yes, ma'am."

She grinned and leaned down to press a quick kiss to his lips, her hair brushing against his face. Eddie chuckled and dragged her in for another kiss before she pulled away.

"Insatiable," she grunted. "Absolute menace."

"I'm your menace."

"Get up, Boy Wonder. We have to drop off Chris and be at the station by nine. Who knows, maybe we'll have a normal day?"

"Oh and I'm the menace!"

She waltzed out the room with a gleeful chuckle.

    Five hours later, Eddie shot his girlfriend a withering glare as she innocently blinked up at him. They turned their attention to the plane flying above with a skydiving instructor stuck underneath.

    "We haven't talked about how we're getting him down," Buck announced.

    "How's the leg?" Bobby asked.