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"Chris," Eddie called out, knocking on the teen's door. "Gotta get up, bud."
It was ten minutes after Chris was supposed to be up and dressed, but Eddie didn't comment on that.
He heard a sleepy groan from inside the bedroom and the faint sounds of sheets shuffling.
"Can't I just stay home? Please?" Chris asked.
Eddie heard more shuffling, no doubt it was Chris pulling the blankets back up over his head. "No, you still gotta go to school." Eddie said. "Three more weeks."
Chris groaned again, this time less sleepy and more frustrated.
Eddie shook his head, sighing as he stepped away from the bedroom door. "Breakfast is ready when you're done. Need any help with your stretches?"
"No.." The teen grumbled, Eddie could practically hear his eyes roll.
Walking into the kitchen, Eddie grabbed the carton of milk from the fridge. He poured two glasses, then left the carton next to Chris' bowl of cereal.
Cereal and toast wasn't exactly the most fulfilling or exciting breakfast, but Eddie didn't have the time to make anything elaborate.
And the last time he cooked pancakes, Chris said Buck made them better. So, he's resigned cooking pancakes.
Besides, cooking was more of Buck's thing anyway.
Eventually, Chris shuffled into the dining room, his hair still sleep ruffled and his clothes thrown on haphazardly.
"Can I go to a party this weekend?" Chris asked as he took his seat at the table.
"Who's party?" Eddie asked, furrowing his brows.
"It's gonna be at Bella's house."
Eddie thought about it for a moment. He'd only spoken to Bella's parents a handful of times, but, from what he's heard, she was a nice girl. "Okay, what time is it?"
Chris shrugged. "I think it's like... Four PM?"
"Do you need me to pick you up afterwards?"
"No, I was gonna go back with Mitch."
"Back to his house?"
"Mhm."
Eddie frowned, placing his hands on his hips. "Do Mitch's parents know about this?"
Chris shifted awkwardly, looking down at his breakfast. "...yeah."
Eddie raised a brow and let out a disbelieving hum. "Mhm."
"No." Chris admitted after a few minutes of tense silence.
"So, you lied about going to Mitch's which means I can assume you're lying about the party as well."
"We were gonna stay at Bella's." Chris mumbled. "Her parents are out of town."
Eddie looked at the clock, the bus was showing up soon and he had to get to work.
He crossed his arms over his chest, giving his son a disappointed look. "We'll talk about this later. And you're coming right back home after school."
Chris rolled his eyes, grabbing his piece of toast from the plate as he made his way toward the door.
Eddie was exhausted after his shift, it was awful the whole day at work.
Buck called in sick, so Eddie was stuck with some new guy from C-shift, then they had two false alarms in the same building, a car pileup, some idiot got trapped in his own pool and couldn't get out, a lady showed up at the station spouting weird, witchy bullshit, and, on top of all of that, they didn't get to eat because everytime they sat down a call came in.
So, yeah. Eddie was done. He just wanted to come home, sit on his couch, have a beer or two, then go to bed early.
Except, when he checked his fridge the beers were gone.
He had two in there when he got the milk out that morning, but they were no longer there.
"Chris!" Eddie was angry, disappointed, but not surprised.
After all, he was younger than Chris when he first started sneaking his dad's whiskey.
But that didn't mean that he liked it.
Eddie knocked on his son's bedroom door, impatient and frustrated. "Chris, open the door."
When Chris didn't respond or open the door, Eddie reached for the handle.
The door wasn't locked, it swung right open.
Chris was on his phone, headphones on, and a half empty bottle of beer sat on his nightstand.
Eddie sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and taking a deep breath. "Chris." He repeated, saying it loud enough for the teen to hear with headphones on.
Chris startled, yanking off his headphones and nearly knocking over the beer as he tried to cover it.
"You're home early." Chris said, trying to play it cool.
"Give me the beer." Eddie cut straight to the point, holding out his hand expectantly.
Reluctantly, Chris turned over the alcohol.
"You're grounded, you know that, right?"
"This is stupid." Chris grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I should be doing more than just grounding you, but I'm being nice." Eddie said, sternly. "Do you know how harmful underage drinking is?"
"Like you didn't do this at my age."
"I did, but I also had a kid when I was eighteen. Teen me wasn't exactly the best role model."
"It was one beer, Dad!"
"You shouldn't be having any beers!"
The two of them were silent for a moment, having a rather one-sided glare off with Chris doing most of the glaring.
"Where's the other beer?" Eddie asked, putting his hands on his hips as he stared at his son with disappointment.
Chris pointed to the trashcan by his desk.
Eddie pulled out the empty bottle, shaking his head.
He threw out both bottles in the recycling bin outside, then headed back to Chris' rooms.
"No screens for a month." He stated. "You can take your phone to school in case of emergencies, but you put it on the dining room table when you get home. I'm taking everything else away."
Chris sputtered. "But-"
"No buts. You know what you did, you're grounded. No screens, no parties, no going out with friends."
Eddie went to bed early that night.
No beers, no sitting on the couch.
Instead, he had to roundup all of Chris' electronics and hide them away in the top shelf of his closet.
This was really not how he expected his day to go...