Thank you for the reviews.

I think that it is safe to say that you are all enjoying the fluffy Christmas related Reddie that I am giving you. So I think that it is only fair that we continue with that school of thought, isn't it?

Set during 2007 and Series 3.

Day Five
Snowball Fight

Rachel knows that Eddie can be childish. Which is why she tried to warn him off when Eddie makes a snowball by saying 'If you throw that snowball, you're declaring war.' Apparently, Eddie sees it more as a challenge than a threat.

Word count: 1,548

The rota was there to stop anyone from getting cold. Rachel knew that it was just her luck that she had someone that would have forgotten that they were meant to take over from her, with her money being on either Grantly or Steph. She was actually looking forward to getting back to her paperwork, back into the warmth, but with quite a few of the kids falling over in the car park, they knew that they had to try and stop accidents before they happened. Which seemed even more difficult when a good amount of snow had fallen overnight and that morning, meaning that the kids were all out playing in it.

With it seeming like no one was going to come out to take her off duty, Rachel knew that her best bet was to start walking around to warm herself up again, making a note that she would have to stress that the rota is kept to.

The last thing that she expected to happen was for Eddie to join her, although it was appreciated at the time.

"Hasn't someone come to take over?" He asked her as he fell in step next to her.

"Nope. I'll have to remind everyone that it is important to stick to the rota."

"I bet they 'forgot'."

"Well, they are going to have to come up with a better excuse than that when I find out who it is meant to be. And marking isn't going to be a good excuse either."

"Do you want me to take over?"

"No, you were out in the cold yesterday. I'll be fine. I've never been so excited to do my paperwork. That is if my hands defrost in time."

"Give them here."

"What?" Rachel said as she stopped.

"Give them here."

She pulled her hands out of her pockets, noting how red they were. She knew that they were going to have another cold winter and she would spend most of it trying to find the gloves that she had last year (which were the best pair of gloves that she'd ever brought). As much as Rachel didn't mind moving about, it was the only bad thing when she had to move in a hurry. She was sure that she still hadn't completely finished unpacking. Something for her to do over the Christmas holidays.

But there was something rather gentle about the way that Eddie placed his hands over hers, with the warmth of his hands seeping into hers. It seemed like a rather intimate thing to do in a rather public setting at the early stages in their relationship (both professional and personal), but Rachel knew that she wanted to feel the way that her hand fitted into his and (if she really allowed her mind to wander) how his skin would feel against hers.

"You are freezing," Eddie said to bring her out of her thoughts.

"It's fine."

"No, it isn't."

It is if I am going to use your heat to warm myself up. Rachel thought, knowing that her thoughts had definitely ran away from her.

She didn't want to slip her hands from his but she felt like they had been the way that they were for a little longer than they should have done. They went back to walking, not really saying much to each other and seemingly both glad when the bell rang out for the afternoon lessons. Rachel knew that Eddie was on a free and so they managed to get everyone into the school without too many problems but doing one last sweep together just to make sure there weren't any stragglers (although Rachel would have thought that they would have wanted to get into the warmth).

Rachel knew that Eddie could be childish. She knew that he was dragging his heels for a reason. She just didn't expect to turn to him, seeing him at the end of making the snowball. This was not the time or the place for that sort of behaviour. Which is why she tried to warn him off, but she felt like he saw it more as a challenge.

"If you throw that snowball, you're declaring war." She said as sternly as she could.

"Really, Mason?"

"Eddie. Put it down."

"Or what?"

She hoped that his aim was awful but the snowball hit her shoulder as she darted to her left. Her hands protested about her scooping up the snow but she knew that she had to get one in quickly before Eddie got her with another snowball.

She didn't know how long it went on for or how many of the teachers had given up with their lessons because the students were too distracted by the head and deputy having a snowball fight, but she knew that it was coming to its end as Eddie stopped throwing his snowballs and ran over to her, his arms going around her waist and picking her up off the floor.

"Eddie." She squealed.

There probably would have been more for them to say about his action had he not lost his balance and they both went flying into the snow, with her landing being a lot softer than Eddie's. She knew that she probably should have shown him a little bit more sympathy as they lied there in the snow, but she could already feel herself getting damp. She could show sympathy when they were warming up in her office.

"You're an idiot." She said as she started to get herself back into a standing position.

"You're telling me." He said through his teeth.

"I think we are better off getting you back to your day job." She went to offer him her hands before she realised what he might do. "If I help you up, you aren't going to pull me down again, are you?"

"Definitely not."

Rachel helped him up before they slowly made their way back into the school and the warmth, with her realising that there might be a couple of witnesses and video evidence of what had just happened.

Eddie got the feeling that he would end up regretting his decision to start the snowball fight and to pick Rachel up for longer than just that day. He had fallen funny as he slipped, more worried about not hurting Rachel than himself (although landing flat on his back with Rachel landing on top of him wasn't the worst thing in the world. Even though his back was now protesting against his actions). He was sure that quite a few people saw him slip over and it would be mentioned at some point. Hopefully when he felt less stiff.

"Are you okay?" Rachel said as she placed down a drink on the coffee table in front of him.

"Never better." He said, trying not to grunt and groan as he sat up a little straighter.

"Eddie, you don't look it."

"I'll be fine."

"No, you are going to be sore for a few days. Did you not learn when you fell off the side of that crag?"

"Obviously not."

"What on earth made you think that was a good idea?"

"What part?"

He almost missed the look on her face. He knew that they were getting closer and he knew that things were different between them now. Maybe he didn't realise how different they were. Not until he saw that look and he knew what part she was on about.

"I just felt like it." He said in reply to her question.

"Maybe you shouldn't have felt like it."

"I didn't plan on falling over."

"I didn't think you did."

Eddie could tell that Rachel was trying to be mad at him but her lips kept curling into a smile, which made him think that she wasn't mad at all. In fact, he was sure that he had seen her at her most care-free and he loved it. And he loved that he could bring that out of her.

"I bet there is some video evidence." Rachel said, allowing the smile to break out across her face.

Eddie groaned. "It is going to be on You've Been Framed now, isn't it?"

His own smile grew as Rachel started laughing and she placed her hand over her mouth to try and stop herself, failing to do so until she had the moment or two.

"What am I going to do with you, Lawson? You are as much of a liability as the kids."

"I'll be good from now on. Scouts honour." He said as he made the Scout Sign.

"You better be. Because I can't stand in assembly and tell the kids to be sensible when my own deputy can't be."

Eddie didn't think mentioning that she called him her deputy. He definitely wasn't going to mention the way that his heart jumped when he heard it or the way that his stomach would do flips. He was more than certain that he was in love with Rachel. It was just working out whether she felt the same way about him.