Summary: Eddie is a witch with a big fat crush on his friend. What could possibly go wrong?
Written by @reddieforlove
Gift for @heknewwellenough
Pairing: Richie Tozier x Eddie Kaspbrak
Word count: 1427
Rating: T for language
Eddie would always remember the first time that he met Richie Tozier. When they shook hands, the lights above them flickered. That’s when he knew that something was off. It would have been comedic if it wasn’t so damn frustrating. A powerful witch with a fucking crush. What the hell? The worst part was that he had no idea how to deal with it.
Nothing like this had ever happened to him. Things might have been intense with other people but they were never this explosive. And that wasn’t even an exaggeration. It was thoughts like these that had Eddie glowering into a half empty glass of water as Stan meticulously wiped down the bar in front of him.
“Incoming,” his best friend warned.
Eddie tensed up, inhaling deeply as he heard footsteps approaching.
“What’s going on, fuckers?” Richie asked, slipping into the seat next to him.
Ignoring his boisterous, explicit greeting, Eddie sulked further into his stool.
“Nothing,” Eddie muttered, resisting the temptation to look his way.
It was bad enough that he had to curl his hands into fists to rein in the power that simmered beneath his skin. Seeing how good he looked wouldn’t really help him.
“He okay?” Richie asked, sounding less cheerful and more worried.
“Moody,” Stan answered without hesitation.
“I’m right here,” Eddie reminded them both.
Stan gave him an almost smirk before turning around to refill napkin containers.
“Hey,” Richie said softly, nudging Eddie’s shoulder with his.
It was a familiar gesture, one that had become a habit over the past few months. He was a physical person just like Eddie which, unfortunately, did not help this situation. Sure enough, he saw the picture on the TV fade in and out several times before turning off completely.
“What?” he said, dragging his eyes away from the TV to mistakenly look straight into his deep blue gaze.
Richie looked concerned, a slight frown creasing his forehead and turning his lips downward.
“What’s wrong?”
If his physical attributes weren’t enough, the fact that he cared enough to ask certainly did it for him. Richie wasn’t like that in the beginning, teasing Eddie and arguing with him about everything under the sun. To be fair, Eddie didn’t exactly refuse to take part in the verbal sparring sessions. But now that they were past their mutual antagonism, it felt natural to share most things.
“Just feeling off today,” he told him.
Richie reached out before Eddie could stop him, putting a hand over his.
“Son of a bitch!” another patron yelled from the other end of the bar as one of the hanging light fixtures over the bar shattered.
Eddie yanked his hand away, glancing at Stan with wide eyes as his friend shook his head, looking entirely unimpressed at this point. Richie, on the other hand, was suspicious. This was far from the first time that something like this had happened. It was different things all the time but by now he had to have at least one or two theories. Eddie was just afraid of him figuring out the truth.
“I’ll go help,” he said, giving Eddie a calculating look before going over to assist in cleaning up glass.
Letting out a miserable groan, Eddie let his head thump against the bar.
“You’re fucked,” Stan informed him.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” he said dryly, lifting his head to glare at the other man.
*
Halloween came and went. Eddie laughed good-naturedly at Beverly’s witch costume, complete with pointed hat. An incident hadn’t happened in weeks and Eddie dared to hope that it was forgotten. It wasn’t until Richie came to him with a heavy book and a look of determination that he knew that he was in trouble.
“I know what’s going on.”
Eddie basically inhaled the water he was drinking, coughing and sputtering as Ben thumped his back.
“What?” Eddie managed to choke out.
“You’re haunted,” he said, dropping the book on the bar.
An immense wave of relief swept over him. If he was looking on that end of the supernatural spectrum, he wasn’t anywhere close to figuring out what was really going on.
“That’s ridiculous,” Stan snorted.
Eddie gave him a dirty look, resisting the temptation to throw something heavy his way.
“It’s not. It explains everything. Weird things happen around you,” Richie said, sitting up straighter as he flipped the book open.
“Not that weird,” Eddie said, averting his eyes.
“Remember that time we were watching those scary movies at my place?”
How could Eddie forget? Richie brushed his hair out of his face and all hell broke loose.
“Barely,” he shrugged.
Richie gaped at him with disbelief.
“Every door in the place blew open. Even the locked front door,” he reminded him.
Eddie pretended not to recall it all that clearly, even though he could still remember the surge of power in his body when Richie’s fingertips brushed his cheek. It had been a particularly humiliating evening, especially when he had to recount it to Stan, his only confidant.
“I’m going to prove it to you,” Richie said stubbornly.
Eddie searched his mind for a way to convince him to leave it be. Nothing he came up with led back to anything but telling him the truth.
“Let’s hope it’s a friendly ghost,” he said, forcing a smile on his face as he ignored Stan’s eye roll.
*
It was hard, watching Richie comb through dusty old books and dozens of websites to find the answer to a problem he didn’t have. Part of him thought that it was sweet of him to go through so much effort. The other part wondered if he was only doing it to find some sort of satisfaction once he figured it out. Eddie wasn’t sure exactly which of those reasons caused him to speak up as Richie came upon yet another dead end one night in the apartment that Eddie shared with Stan.
“I’m not haunted, Richie.”
“I just haven’t found a way to test it Eddie. But I’ll figure it out,” Richie assured him, thinking he was just giving up on the idea.
“I was never haunted,” Eddie pushed, stepping forward. “It’s something else entirely.”
Richie looked up at him with confusion creasing his brow.
“What do you mean?” he asked slowly.
Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for his reaction.
“I’m a witch.”
Before he could burst out laughing, which he knew was coming soon, Eddie flicked his hand over one of his books and sent it flying across the room. When it thudded against the wall, Richie almost fell off his chair in his haste to stand up.
“What the fuck?”
“I told you,” he said quietly, weaving his fingers together. “I didn’t tell you before because…well I don’t really tell anyone.”
Richie stared at him, looking torn between slow realization and lingering disbelief.
“A witch?”
Eddie nodded, sinking his teeth into his lower lip as he waited for Richie to process it.
“So you can use a potion to turn me into a newt or something?”
“I don’t need the potion, but yeah,” he replied.
Richie glanced between him and the fallen book.
“So all the exploding lights and slamming doors…” he trailed off, looking at him questioningly.
Eddie’s shoulders slumped and he sighed heavily, knowing that he just had to get this over with.
“Yes, that was me. I get nervous around you and I lose control a little bit. I’m working on it,” he promised.
“You get nervous around me?” Richie said, suddenly more interested in that statement than the whole witch thing as a grin pulled at his lips. “As in…”
“Yes,” Eddie said, already knowing that he had it right. “I’ve got a big stupid crush on you, Richie Tozier. And because of that, I turn into a... a flustered mess who can’t rein in the abilities that he’s had since childhood. I know it’s embarrassing, believe me. My dad just says that I need to build up a sort of immunity to…”
He was cut off by lips on his, letting out a squeak of surprise before relaxing into the kiss. As Richie’s fingers tangled in his hair and his other hand pressed over his hip, Eddie felt a burst of warmth in his chest and winced at the sound of shattering glass. They were suddenly plunged into darkness, pulling away at once.
“I’m working on it,” Eddie repeated with a serious tone in his voice
Richie’s laugh was the only reply he got before they were kissing once more.
Eddie’s feet hit the sidewalk as he walked towards Bill’s house, where all the Losers were meeting. He was wearing his Spiderman costume he’d picked out, matched with a pair of black converse and the coat his mother made him wear. He felt dumb all of a sudden, all the littler kids he passed didn’t have on a winter coat, none of them were covered in lights and glowsticks so they had no chance in hell of getting run over by a car. All the little kids just skipped along, showing their mom’s the bags of candy they’d acquired in the past half hour. He kept his eyes in front of him from then on, not wanting to get sad over all these little kids who just so happened to have parents that had the stamina to walk blocks upon blocks in order to get as much candy as possible. Ever since he was four Eddie’s mom would ask Bill’s mom to take him trick-or-treating, saying the walk would kill her feet. She didn’t even hand out candy, preferring to stay planted in her chair, as she always did, and watching her shows while eating the family size bag of candy she’d bought at the local supermarket for that night. The thought of it had Eddie shuddering. How can someone sit like that all day? He shook his head, hoping the thought would bounce around on the inside of his skull and get stuck in the crevices of his brain for awhile.
As Bill’s house came into view towards the end of the street, Eddie let his jacket sag off his shoulders.He was already wearing a pair of long underwear under his costume so the jacket just made him uncomfortably hot. When the others noticed him, they started to wave. “Spaghetti boy, get your ass up here! You’re late!” Richie said with a smile. Eddie eyed his werewolf costume, a pair of ears clipped in his curly hair, fake teeth stuck in and the rags-for-clothes outfits; he’d look kinda scary if his eyes weren’t the size of dinner plates. “Shut the fuck up four eyes, try getting out of my house on time some time. It’s not easy.” Eddie shouldered Richie as he eyes the others around him. Bill was dressed as a Naruto character, wearing a headband and a face mask. Eddie scrunched his nose at the costume, not really one for anime himself but understanding that there was a small Georgie Naruto running around in said character's costume. The next in his line of site was Stan, though the closest thing his culture had was tzedakah, a tradition where jewish children would dress up as sages, princesses, heroes, and clowns and go door to door in their community to ask for donations for the needy, Stan’s father had started letting him go trick-or-treating with his friends about three years ago. Said boy was currently wearing a red and white striped sweater with a beanie and round glasses. He looked kinda cute with the glasses and his curls popping out under the hat. Next was Mike, he was dressed as Frankenstien’s monster, fake stitches here and there along with different parts of his body (like his hand or his neck) painted a couple shades darker or lighter than his original skin tone. Lastly was Ben and Bev, Ben wearing all white with wings and a halo while Bev smiled devilishly next to him in her red and black ensemble, adorning horns and a tail to finish the look. Eddie nodded at all their costumes. “You guys put effort in, I’m proud.”
Mike and Bill laughed at his joke, Stan rolling his eyes. “Well now that you’re here we can grab George and head out.” Stan said, looking as kids walked towards the front porch they had been standing on. “Too many little brats.” He mumbled and scooted a couple steps back to get out of the way of their grabby hands and sticky fingers. “Yeah, sorry bout that. Mom wanted pictures and all that.” Eddie stepped to the side too, back past richie out the kid's path of terror.
“Yeah we get it, your mom likes to terrorize you.” Richie said as he swiped a hand through Eddie’s hair. Eddie scowled and stepped away.
At this point everyone was ready to head out, their thirteen year old bodies ready to consume the sugary goodness that game with the holiday. “Alright m-mm-mom!” Billed yelled through the screen door as the little brats ran past him, back out into the neighborhood. “We’re g-ga-gonna head out.” Bill stuttered as he moved his face mask to talk clearly. “Alright sweetheart, make sure to keep an eye on your brother.” Ms. Denbrough was now at the screen door, opening it for Georgie to slip out. He Naruto ran past the group of preteens and down into the grass to run in circles, gripping the neon green pumpkin-bucket in his hand as he did so. “I’ll m-m-mmm-make sure he never l-leaves m-my sight.” Bill said to his mom, a small salute as he turned to walk down the stairs, his own candy bag in hand. Ms. Denbrough smiled at her son and looked over his group of friends, Bev and Ben following Bill down the stairs as Richie snuck a blowpop from the candy dish. When her eyes found Eddie she frowned. “Are you hot sweetie?” She asked as the small boys still had his coat sagging off his shoulders. “Y-yeah..” Eddie admitted, not sure if Bill’s mom was gonna snitch on him to his own mom. “Why don’t you leave your coat here until you kids get back?” She asked and opened the screen door to grab the garment from Eddie’s hands. Eddie smiled and passed it to her with a big smile. “Thank you!” He smiled up at her, turning to follow all his friends who had made their way to the sidewalk, Georgie laughing as Richie and Bill made fart noises at eachother like the mature eighth graders they were. Eddie caught up to them and smiled, starting to pull glow sticks from around his neck to hand out amongst the group.
They made their way to the north side of town, hitting as many houses as possible on their way. Georgie’s bucket was almost full as they made it to their destination, the nice side of town. The bigger houses out here were where the new families who came to Derry moved into. The houses were newer, just having been developed in the past five years instead of being around since the 20/30s’ like most if this shitty’s towns buildings. “You ready to get those full size candy bars Eds’?” Richie asked as they strolled up to the first house, his hand brushing Eddie’s, making the smaller of the two blush. Eddie put a scowl on his face, looking up at his lanky friend. “Fuck you. I told you not to call me that.” Eddie mumbled back. Richie just laughed and stepped forward to mess with Bev, leaving Eddie to be sucked into a conversation with Stan and Mike. “That was kinda gay.” Stan whispered to Eddie. “I noticed.” Eddie mumbled as he fell into step with Stan. Mike laughed at the two of them, placing his hand on Stan’s shoulder as they walked. “Talk to him Eddie.” Mike encouraged as they watched Richie and Bev knock on the door of the house’s door. They followed their friends up the house’s steps let out a “Trick-or-Treat!” As they walked back to the sidewalk, Georgie swinging his glow stick around as he and Bill fought about the best Naruto character at the front of the group, Stan, Mike and Eddie still talking about Eddie’s low self esteem at the back. “I’d rather not ruin my friendship like that.” Eddie said as he looked at the full size MilkyWay he was given at the last house. “You never know.” Mike said, looking down at Eddie. “Yeah, for all you know Richie could have just as big a crush on you as you have on him.” Stan said, keeping his voice low as he spoke. Eddie looked at the side of Richie’s face as he spoke to Bev and Ben, Richie ruffling both of their
heads of hair with a smile. Eddie sighed as he thought about how Richie would pat his head some times, the way it made Eddie’s heart pound and his cheeks warm up as he’d hide his face and scowl at his own feelings.
They hit a couple more houses before Bill suggested they start to head back, pointing out Georgie’s yawn and saying all the running around must have worn him out. Richie made a joke about how he likes to wear himself out and Bev decked him in the arm. She told him to watch his trashmouth and pushed him to the back of their small group. He landed next to Eddie who was messing with his gloves. “Hey Eds’!” Richie said and threw an arm around the smaller boy. “How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that.” Eddie mumbled as he looked up to Richie’s eyes. Richie was still smiling when Eddie met hie eyes, as if laughing at something in his own head. “Can I help you?” Eddie asked as he looked to the back of Stan’s hat covered head, not trying to catch Richie’s eyes again after the look he just caught. “Yeah actually,” Richie said as he pulled Eddie into him by the arm around he’d thrown around Eddie’s shoulders. “I wanna talk to you, just us two.” Richie said, patting Eddie’s shoulder before letting go of him all together. He whistled along to the sounds of the monster mash playing from one of the houses, Eddie’s eyes watching him for a couple seconds before looking back at the front of the group. Georgie was in Bill’s arms, his neon green bucket in his hand as he laid his head on Bill’s shoulder and watched all the other children retreating to their homes. His nerves started to get to him the more they walked, Richie putting his two cents in where he thought needed while their friends spoke about the plans for the upcoming weekend. Eddie bit his lip as he thought about all the possible things Richie could want to talk about. This week’s math test? Did he have something in his teeth? Did he lose the comic Eddie had let him borrow? His head was pounding with the possibilities, his feet scraping the ground as he lingered behind. Richie’s whistling never faltered as they came closer to Bill’s house. The blow-up decorations were still on and the fake spiderwebs still covered the porch as they passed the family’s mailbox and headed to the front door. “Well that was a good night!” Bev said happily as she sat on Bill’s steps, pulling Ben down beside her. “It wasn’t horrible.” Stasn said with a shrug, pulling a lollipop from his bag to eat. “Speak for yourself.” Eddie mumbled, no one hearing him as he opened the screen door for Bill. He popped his head in to grab his coat off the hook and smiled at Mrs. Denbrough. “Did you have a good time sweetie?” She asked as she walked towards her older son to grab the younger one from his arms.
“Y-yuh-yeah. It was f-fffff-fun.” Bill answered as he looked back at Eddie. “Got anything g-guh-g-good?” He asked, pointing to the bag Eddie was carrying. “Yeah, I think I got some caramel popcorn in Jackson.” Eddie said as he opened the bag, pulling out the orange bag of popcorn to show the trio in front of him. “That sounds yummy.” Mrs. Denbrough said as she patted Georgie’s head. “Alright boys, I’m going to put this little gut to bed.” She waved and wished the group of pre-teens goodnight, all of them waving back. “Alright,” Bill started as he led Eddie back out onto the porch and addressed the group. “Let’s m-mm-meet up in t-the cafeteria during b-buh-breakfast time to trade c-cah-cah-candy.” He stretched his arms above his head, hsi own yawn coming out. Bev and Ben stood back up, fingers laced together. “Alrighty.” Bev said and waved at her friends with a big smile on her face, Ben giving a less dramatic wav and a
sheepish smile. “See you tomorrow then.” She led Ben to the sidewalk before waving one last time and heading towards Ben’s house to walk him home. Stan took a step away from the group next, saluting back to them. “Gotta head home before dad gets worried.” Stan stated, lollipop hanging out of the side of his mouth. “I’ll see you losers tomorrow.” He called out and crossed the street before ducking between to houses to get home faster. Eddie looked at the spiderman wristwatch he’d been gifted for his birthday. “Looks like i should start to head home too.” He said to the three other boys, stepping back and putting his coat back on. “That’s my cue.” Richie said as he winked at Bill. “Gotta make sure the valuables get home safe.” Bill and Mike laughed with Richie at his small joke. Eddie pushed past them and started to walk down the street towards his house.
Richie’s feet pounded on the sidewalk as he caught up with Eddie. It was dark out now, the only light guiding them was the street lamps shining down and the string lights people had hung up in preparation for tonight. “Slow down shortstack!” Richie called out behind him. Eddie turned to look at him, scowl on his face. “Don’t call me that!” Eddie snapped at him and turned around to keep walking home. Richie just smiled and laughed, clapping a hand down on Eddie’s shoulder. They turned the corner as Richie started to whistle again, the noise frying Eddie’s nerves. They walked in the sound of their mixed footsteps and the high pitched whistling for a couple blocks until they reached the intersection by Eddie’s street. Richie’s hand on his shoulder stopped Eddie from crossing. “Eds’,” Richie started as he looked up at the stars and the moon. “I-I’ve been wanting to tell you something for awhile.” Eddie’s breath caught in his throat at the way Richie looked down at him. Richie’s blue eyes flashed with emotions, too fast for Eddie to catch anything other than the seriousness that pooled in them. “What?” Eddie barely got out, throat suddenly dry and cheeks hot. Richie studied his face before looked left and right, making sure no one was around. “Eddie,” He said, his voice softer than usual. Eddie couldn’t think when he looked at him like that. “Richie.” He whispered back, not liking how this was going. Richie would never confess to him, why would he? Richie trashmouth I-talk-about-tits-more-than-anything-else Tozier? Yeah no way Eddie’s feelings were returned! He should walk away. Leave before Richie smells the homosexual radiating off of him. He should run and try to forget it all. Make up an excuse to escape-
“I like you.” Richie whispered. Eddie’s face heated up and and he closed his eyes, not wanting to see Richie’s face when he started to laugh at him. “That’s not funny Rich!” Eddie yelled at him. “Just cause all the other kids call me a homo doesn’t mean you can make fun of me with that too!” Eddie opened his eyes again, feeling tears start to pool in the corners of them. “Ed-” Richie started, taking a step back and let his arm fall by his side. “No Richie!” Eddie said back to him. “If you’re gonna make fun of me, stick to the regular insults.” Eddie wiped his eyes before the tears could spill. “Eddie.” Richei started again. “I just want to be like all the other boys!” Eddie felt his breath shake “Eddie!” Richie said again. “Did Stan tell you! Does he think this is as funny as you do?” Eddie asked, feeling more weak than ever as he had to look up at Richie. “Eddie!” Richie yelled back at him and grabbed Eddie’s shoulders. “Eddie, this isn’t a joke. I’m not making fun of you.” Richie pushes a couple of Eddie’s brown curls off his forehead. “I really like you.” He whispered and looked into the other boy’s eyes. Eddie just looked up at
Richie with teary eyes. “Y-you do?” He asked and Richie smiled down at him. “Of course I do.” Richie said with a smile as he cupped one of Eddie’s cheeks. Eddie felt his lower lip tremble. “Wow you’re such a sap.” He said with a smile and a sniffle. Richie laughed at the small boy, thinking of how head over heels he was for him.
A/N: HAPPY HALLOWEEN BRI!!! i hope you enjoy this, and that it’s what you had in mind!!! mwah mwah
Richie doesn’t really believe in God, well, at least not to a certain extent. Okay, scratch that. He believes in something, he’s just not sure if it’s a God or a superior entity or some stupid shit like that.
What he does believe though, at this exact moment, is that angels are real, and he just witnessed the king of the angels. Maybe that means the god of the angels or whatever, but he doesn’t exactly care about the correct terminology because he’s pretty sure this boy is a real life angel.
REO Speedwagon’s I Can’t Fight This Feeling is thrumming lowly through the speakers by the fireplace, and Richie really needs to find Bill to congratulate him on his music taste. I'm keeping you in sight is right, Richie muses indistinctly.
“Rich.” He hears from his left, moving limply as he’s shouldered softly.
“Yeah?” He mutters, keeping his eyes tracked on the boy across the room. He’s sitting by himself on the couch, painted light blue hands gripping a red solo cup weakly, lifting every once in awhile to drink.
Bev shoves him a little harder, and Richie finally tears his eyes away from the angel on the couch. “Come on man, you’re being creepy. Stop staring at that poor kid. And you haven’t even seen his full face; his mask is covering part of it.”
“Yeah, no shit Bev. You’d be surprised with what I can make do with having only half a face,” he says, his brows doing a little dance as he grins down at her. “Also,” he continues, reaching towards her headband, “can you start warning me when you want to talk to me? I’m not used to— this—“ he gestures to the dark hair curling right above her shoulders, making a grab at it, but Bev shoots his hand away from where it’s getting dangerously close to her headband. “I always think you’re someone creeping on me.”
Beverly grabs a black curl resting right above her shoulder, almost absentmindedly, and tugs on it loosely. She’s dressed as Snow White, and had dyed her hair with Richie’s own help two days ago. He’s still not used to it though, and it struck him this morning while doing his own hair how much they look like siblings now.
“I can barely understand you,” she lifts her own solo cup to her mouth, taking a sip of what is presumably something non-alcoholic. “Take that stupid mask off and face me like a woman. Or go talk to the guy on the couch.”
Richie wriggles uncomfortably. God does he want to go talk to the boy with probably the best Halloween costume here. Better than Princess Diana and Prince Charles he’s here with, for sure. But he’s nervous. He only came to terms with this whole I-want-to-kiss-boys-like-a-lot-thing only recently, and even then he hasn’t even come to terms with it super well. The only reason Bev knows is because she’s Bev. His ride or die, his best friend, his platonic life partner, yadda yadda yadda. Same deal with Stan. He knows stuff about them that he’ll take to the grave, and vice versa.
“I like the mask. It’s gives an air of… sexy mystery.” Richie slouches against the wall, turning away from Bev. His eyes make their way to the boy across the room, trying to pretend he’s not staring. He knows he’s not doing an entirely good job, but he thinks he has the right to stare when someone’s costume looks like that on them.
“Not really— definitely not sexy. It’s kind of creepy. I can’t really tell where you’re looking at.” Stan remarks, saddling up next to them. He leans against the wall too, bumping his shoulder against Richie’s. His fancy blue prince pants look funny next to Richie’s black and white pinstripe pants.
“He’s looking over there— at zombie boy.“ Bev nods towards the couch across the room. “Where were you?” She adds, leaning to look over Richie towards Stan.
Richie turns to Beverly, staring down at her sable head, astonished. “Do not just tell me you called him a zombie—”
“Getting water,” Stan says, lifting up the water bottle in his hands to show her, promptly cutting Richie off. Probably to save himself of a stupid argument. “Why don’t you go talk to him, Rich?” He suggests, loud enough to be heard over the music but not enough for the people around them to hear. He reaches over to Richie’s face and lifts his mask to sit on top of his head.
Richie shakes his head vigorously, his mask flopping over and onto his face again. “Fuck no, Fresh Prince of Derry. I’ll just stare at Himeros for now.”
Beverly snickers, but Stan looks at him, probably judging him. Richie sees his brows draw in the middle, and it sounds like he’s smiling when he says, “wouldn’t he be Anteros—?”
The sound of a shriek makes its way to Richie’s ears, and he gets the inkling that it’s probably a little more important than some girl getting teased or tickled or whatever the fuck off in the corner. He’s right, because when he looks over, Anteros is laughing at something Bill Denbrough is saying to him. “Oh my God. Did you guys hear that?”
“No? What?” Stan says, looking around, intrigued. “What is it, Richie?”
“I think I just heard an angel sing.” Richie sighs dreamily, slumping against the wall even further.
“Actually, I think you mean a god sing—“
“Oh, just go talk to the guy!” Bev gestures to the boy on the couch with her drink, some of it sloshing out of the cup and onto the floor, splashing Richie’s chucks lightly.
“And it’s not sing, dingus. It’s laugh. Maybe he shouldn’t go talk to him,” Stan continues, “he’ll embarrass himself.”
“I don’t have to listen to this abuse,” pushing himself off the wall, Richie turns to the royalty behind him. “I’m going to get another drink! Is there anything your highnesses would enjoy from the area of feeding?” He pretends to bow, and snickers when he hears Stan mutter no, thank you, asshat.
Bev does what Richie could only describe as a soft karate chop on each shoulder— the name escapes him— and she giggles also. “I’d like an orange juice.”
“Even though I just suffered some verbal abuse from you not even five minutes ago—“ he calls, walking away, “I will get you your juice of orange. With bubbly water, you freak!” He calls, finishing her sentence before she even begins to start talking.
“Fucking— bubbly water. Fucking disgusting,” he mutters, walking up to the makeshift bar in the kitchen.
“Hey, man.” He nods to Mike Hanlon in the kitchen, smiling. He always liked Mike. And Bill, too, when he had been on the lacrosse team last year. The rest of the team fucking sucked— and so did the sport in general, if he’s being honest. He can’t count how many hallelujahs he said the last day of practice.
Mike tilts his head, squinting at him. He raises his hand in a slow, confused wave.
“Oh,” Richie laughs, pulling his mask up and over his head. “Sorry, man.”
“Oh!” Mike chuckles, walking up next to him. He bades goodbye to the girl next to him, sliding up next to Richie and leaning against the counter. “I thought it was you, Rich. You know— cause of the hair—“ he gestures to the mess of curls on Richie’s head, “— but it looked shorter so I wasn’t sure. Also, your neck is super white.”
“You mean whiter than usual?” Richie cracks, mixing Bev’s monstrosity of a drink.
Mike gasps out a surprised laugh.“Yeah. Okay, whiter than usual.”
Not quite what he was expecting, a similar laugh makes its way out of his throat. “I got a sexy haircut, dude, that’s why you didn’t recognize me in my sexy costume.” He says, still chuckling. He punctuates his sentence with a pop of his hip, grinning over at Mike briefly before turning back to the mouth-sore in front of him.
“Speaking of, I like your costume. That movie’s pretty cool.”
“I know, but do you know how many oh, are you Beetlejuice’s? I’ve gotten tonight? You think the mask would be a dead giveaway. Or that Bill wouldn’t have invited such dumb fucking people to his party.” Richie rolls his eyes, smiling at Mike’s nice rumble of a laugh. “I mean— I knew half the lacrosse team had zero brain cells, but you'd think at least some of the art kids would be smart. This movie only came out a year ago.” He scoffs. He grabs a half-filled Coke bottle in front of him and the Fanta next to it, pouring them into a solo cup, stirring them together with a straw. He lifts the cup to his mouth and takes a sip, turning fully to look at Mike, from feet to the top of his head. “What’re you supposed to be, anyway? Wait— no! Let me guess, let me guess.”
Mike shrugs, gesturing at him with his own solo cup as if to say alright man, go ahead.
Mike has got on a yellow blazer, a red scarf around his neck, and a toque. Richie has literally no idea what he is.
“No-fence man, but what the fuck are you? I’m trying to come up with something funny but I’m coming up short.”
Mike laughs, like he’d been expecting that, and says, “I’m one of the boys from the Rice Krispies box. You know? It’s a group costume, with Bill and Ben.”
Richie nods. He knows Ben; he’s in his Humanities class and was in his SAT prep class last year, and he thinks Friends is funny, but never mind that little drawback, because he’s also probably the nicest fucking person Richie has ever met. He’s been meaning to ask him to hang out or something, but it’s not quite something he’s gotten around to yet, for whatever reason. In short, he’s just cool, and he makes Richie feel good. Same deal with Bill, and Mike. He smiles. “I was wondering what the fuck Bill was. I thought he was the little Nutcracker boy.”
Mike bursts out laughing, slapping Richie on the arm. “I can’t wait to tell him that,” he mutters, small hiccups escaping his lips as he continues to chuckle, “he’ll love that—“
“Hi, Mike. Can I get by?” A soft voice says behind Richie. Both him and Mike turn around concurrently, and Richie chokes on the drink he unluckily lifted to his lips only a moment before, because there he is. The Himeros. Or Anteros. Whatever it is, or was, Richie can’t focus, or remember. He feels as if his brain has melted straight out of his ears and onto the floor, or into his drink, or something. He has no idea. None of it really matters right now, anyway.
Mike says something that Richie tunes out accidentally, and he slides easily out of the way. They start talking, but Richie has no idea what they’re saying. The thoughts in his own head drown out their talk, and the loud talking all around him, and the sound of the opening chords of Witchy Woman starting up, all to a dull murmur as he stares at the back of the boy’s head. He feels like he should be listening to what him and Mike are talking about— to maybe pick up on a few things or something— but he’s too far gone now, his thoughts wrapping around his mind like a telephone cord around a finger.
Richie cannot understand for the life of him why he has never seen this boy around. He’s a fucking senior this year, for Chrissake, and their school isn’t even that big like one of those schools up in Portland or Bangor. About six or seven hundo kids, give or take. And it’s not like he’s an observant person. He typically likes to think of himself as pretty observant, actually, and there’s not a chance in hell this kid would not catch his attention. He hasn’t even had the honor of having this kid’s face grace his shitty vision, but he already knows it’s going to be an appealing face.
“—Richie?”
“Huh?” Richie’s head snaps up from where he was staring at Himeros’ feet toward whoever said his name.
It was Mike, and he’s smiling crookedly, like he’s waiting for Richie to answer. “See you later, Rich?” He says, and Richie figures he’s repeating it by the way he’s smiling and the tone of his voice.
“Oh. Yeah, see ya later, Snap.” He nods, a grin splitting his face as Mike returns it, turning to leave.
And then it’s just him and the angel, he realises a few seconds after Mike’s trodden off to go talk to Ben in the corner of the kitchen.
It’s quiet, and it’s funny because everyone around them is talking, and Richie has always hated quiet. He opens his mouth to say something, pretty much anything that comes to his head first, but the boy beats him to it. And it’s perfect for two reasons.
“Hey, Bone Daddy,” the boy says to him softly— like, to him, directly— and he kind of smiles, laughing to himself.
It’s perfect because Richie had absolutely no idea what he was going to say, so pretty much anything could have run out of his mouth, which doesn’t always fly so well depending on who he’s talking to. That greeting knocks the wind out of him though, promptly knocking whatever embarrassing thing Richie could have said out of his mind, too, which he’s entirely grateful for.
It’s also perfect because by the minute he’s being proven right about this boy being an angel.
“Get it? It’s from the movie.” Himeros continues, almost uncertainly. Richie wishes he could see his face— the mask is partially in the way, and he’s ducked over his own drink that he’s making.
“Yeah, I get it,” he says in a rush, voice cracking. He takes a deep breath, continuing, “I’ve seen it like a billion times, so.” He trails off. “It’s my favorite,” he adds after a moment. The word fuck bounces around his head, feeling like he’s embarrassing himself or being especially awkward.
“Mine too.” The boy responds, turning to smile at Richie briefly. “When I chose my costume, I thought it was weird not having a Jack to go with, but Bill told me it looked fine.”
“It does!” Richie blurts, and okay, yeah, he doesn’t exactly have a filter, but there are times when he thinks maybe he should work on that. Like right now. “I mean— it does. Look fine. I mean— I went as Jack without a Sally, and it’s not weird, right? So a Sally without Jack is not weird.” He’s rambling, and the boy is giggling, and most of the anxiety drains from his body because this— laughter, making people laugh— this is easy. Laughing makes him easy. The tension drains from his shoulders, from his brows, the anxiety flooding his body evaporates as he continues, a smile spreading across his face as he says, “your costume is definitely the sexiest one here. Excluding the cheeseburger playing beer pong, of course.”
Richie watches as a flush coats the boy’s blue cheeks, and it’s probably the most endearing thing he’s ever seen. “Of course. Naturally.” He agrees, nodding along with Richie. He’s finished making his drink, and he turns to lean against the counter to face Richie. “And we— well we found each other, so now there’s no lonely Jack and Sally.” The boy says, and he smiles again. He sounds kind of nervous, and it further confirms Richie’s idea that yeah, this boy is his dream boy.
Richie grins down at him, and the brief thought of how short this boy is crosses his mind. He finally takes in the boy’s full appearance now that he’s standing right in front of him, face and all. Everything about him just screams cute to Richie, from the sewn patches all over his pants and shirt, to the black boots he’s wearing. Richie notices that his hair is spray-dyed a vivid red, and it’s done really well. He probably went through at least two bottles, Richie muses. His drawn on stitched smile is curved up even more so than it already is due to the boy’s smile, and it makes Richie smile.
The boy is looking him up and down—checking me out, Richie thinks nervously, Gee-zus— just like Richie was a second ago. The boy can’t see his face— when did I put on my mask again?— and that is both a shame and a blessing.
“Do you— um—” the boy starts nervously, looking down into his cup and then back up again, “do you want to go up to Bill’s room, or something? To talk more? I feel cramped in here.”
Richie nods, and then realizes it might look like he’s saying no because of the mask, so he clarifies verbally with a loud, “yes! Let’s go. Do that. Lead the way, Sally.”
Himeros-Sally laughs, shaking his head, and leads the way out of the kitchen and up the stairs right outside of the kitchen. Richie follows, not seeing Stan or Bev anywhere. He mentally thanks whatever deity out there is throwing him a bone, and climbs the stairs two at a time, lifting his mask as he reaches the top step.
“So,” the boy starts, leaning against the door once it closes. He sounds nervous again, and it drives a lot of the remaining anxiety Richie is feeling out of his chest. “Can I um— can I do something?” He shakes his head, looking down at the floor and frowning at his feet. “Sorry. That came out wrong. Can I try something, I mean.”
“Like— like what? Like smelling Bill’s underwear, or looking for his porn mags? Because I bet they smell like—“
“Shut up,” the boy says, and it’s not very serious, as he makes his way slowly to Richie, who’s standing in the middle of the room, feeling silly all of a sudden. He places his hands on Richie’s shoulders, and does this thing that Richie really likes where he smooths them over the expanse of his shoulder softly. He rises up on his toes and his face suddenly becomes a lot closer to Richie’s. From behind his mask and through the peepholes, his eyes are telling Richie that he can tell him to stop. Richie does not tell him to stop.
And then suddenly there are soft lips on his. Uncertain, but not unstable. Richie’s eyes are open the whole time, and now he definitely feels like a fool.
The boy leans back slightly, and one of his hands comes up to take off his mask. He tosses it onto Bill’s bed, and then makes eye contact with Richie again, and Gee-zus, this boy is the definition of cute. He’s the end-all-be-all of cute boys. Freckles smattering his nose and cheeks. Crinkles next to his eyes from smiling at the moment. Long, pretty lashes. Thick, bushy brows.
“I don’t know your name,” is what he says after a few moments of just staring at Richie, also.
“Well, Eddie-Spaghetti. I thought you just wanted to talk?”
The boy— Eddie— frowns for the first time tonight. “That’s not my name,” Eddie argues. His frown is almost as cute as his smile.
“Not anymore. It’s Eddie-Spaghetti. Or if you don’t like that, I can call you Spaghedward. And if you’re not into pasta at all, Eds can work.” Richie rambles, and then Eddie is pressing his lips to Richie’s again.
“I guess I didn’t come up here to talk. You sure did though,” Eddie retorts when he leans back again, and Richie can feel him smiling, and that is something he’s definitely into.
Richie’s eyes are closed this time as he replies with a breathless laugh. “Where have you been all of my life?”
“Here and there,” he responds vaguely. It’s very obviously a joke, and Richie can’t help but laugh again. After he stops chuckling, Eddie answers honestly, telling him that he’s just quiet, and points out that they obviously have had very different schedules.
They end up laying down on Bill’s bed on their sides while Eddie talks, Richie’s mask thrown up by Bill’s pillow next to Eddie’s. Richie realizes Eddie’s probably as much of a talker as Richie is himself as he rambles on about the organization of classes. “I guess the people who organize classes just hate us. You know, since we seem to have never shared a class together. You’re not taking any AP classes, right?”
Richie shakes his head. “No.”
Eddie frowns, “me neither,” he mumbles, biting his lip. “I don’t get why we’re not in any of the same regular classes, then.”
What he says goes in one ear and out the other. Eddie’s bitten lips have captured his full attention, and he wants to kiss them. Bad. So he leans over quickly and does.
Eddie splutters, seemingly caught by surprise, blush coating his blue cheeks again. “I— um— oh. Okay.”
“Sorry,” Richie hastens to say, shaking his head again, glasses getting pushed against his face and his hands under his head feeling uncomfortable. “I didn’t know if—“
“No! It’s fine,” Eddie shakes his head too, soft smile reappearing on his face. “It’s fine,” he repeats, softer this time. “I probably should have asked first, anyway. So I’m sorry.”
Richie scoffs, dramatic. “It’s fine. You’re fine. You did kinda ask, anyway. Besides, I wanted those cute lips on me, anyways,” Richie grins, laughing at Eddie’s bashful smile and the roll of his eyes.
When Eddie doesn’t say anything for a few moments, Richie fears he made it awkward, but then Eddie looks into his eyes and cracks a smile, a laugh escaping his mouth. He starts to laugh even more, and then Richie starts to laugh, and then suddenly they’re laughing together on Bill’s bed in their Nightmare Before Christmas Halloween costumes at nothing. This is the best Richie has felt in a long time. He feels as if he’s known Eddie for years, and not just for two hours.
Eddie wipes away a few tears from his eyes, rolling onto his back and staring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars Bill has on his ceiling. “I’m glad I met you,” he says softly, in the Eddie-way he does that Richie is grown accustomed to in the past couple of hours.
“Same here, Eds.” Richie whispers back.
Eddie’s hand reaches over and threads through the hand Richie has resting by his face. Still on his side, and staring at Eddie’s face poised up to the ceiling with his eyes closed, Richie can’t help but think for the hundredth time that night yeah, definitely an angel.
"Ok, so what about....this??" Richie perused the Halloween section on Amazon. He had searched 'Halloween couples costumes' and was met with a long list of 'boyfriend/girlfriend' costumes. He could tell Eddie was very annoyed at this point and on the verge of completely blowing it off.
Eddie looked towards the screen and huffed. "Does it fucking look like I want to be a loofa?? Are you fucking serious Richie?" He rolled his eyes and took the mouse from Richie's hand.
"I would have never assumed searching for Halloween costumes would be so fucking stressful." Richie sighed and leaned back into the computer chair. He rolled back a bit and pulled Eddie into his lap. "Is there any costume you have in mind? Maybe we could just make ours?"
Eddie situated himself to be more comfortable and placed his elbow on the desk. He rested his elbow on the table and pinched the upper bridge of his nose. "I have nothing in mind."
He continued to scroll down the long list of costumes, quickly getting to his limit. "UGH!!! THIS IS POINTLESS!!" He slammed the mouse down and threw himself back into Richie's chest. He made an 'oomph' sound at the impact, slightly getting the wind knocked out of him.
"Hey calm down Eds, maybe it's for the best." Richie wrapped his arms around Eddie's waist and rested his chin on his shoulder. He could see the blush on Eddie's cheek crawl up to the tip of his ear. At this point, Richie couldn't tell if it was from frustration or the way he was being manhandled by him.
"Oh fuck off you prick!" Eddie hissed at Richie and gave his knee a "love tap", as he liked to call it.
"I didn't even say anything!" Richie laughed and held Eddie closer.
"Oh my God, I can feel you smirking from a mile away!" He tried to struggle away but failed.
Richie gave Eddie a raspberry on his upper cheek, which resulted in him laughing and screaming "Richie!!!" In disgust.
As if it were a cartoon, an idea popped into Richie's head like a lightbulb. "Oh shit, I have an idea for a costume!!"
In the middle of wiping off the spit on his face, Eddie perked up. "What? What is it? Please tell me you're not joking because I really am not in the mood for jokes and--"
As Eddie continued to go on, Richie typed his idea into the search engine and smiled wide when it popped up.
"Oh hell no."
"Eddie please, it's perfect!!" Richie put his hands together in a praying motion still wrapped around Eddie.
"No Richie! I don't wanna look like a fucking idiot."
"We won't though! It'll be fun! Come on please!" Richie put on his puppy-eyes-face, which was always extreme due to his glasses magnifying his brown peepers.
Eddie stared into his eyes for a beat, then groaned out frustration. "Fuck. Fine. Whatever!" He huffed and crossed his arms, "But I swear! If I get made fun of or embarrassed, I will never talk to you again!”
“Aight, deal! I’m happy with those stakes.” Richie placed the costumes in his cart and ordered them. “Anyways, I think there’s something worse than being embarrassed at the party.”
“You’re still caught up on that Rich? You know they’ll be happy for us. Knowing them they probably guessed it already.” Eddie placed his hand on Richie’s leg, rubbing it comfortingly.
“Yea but what if they don’t agree...” Richie placed his hand on top of Eddie’s and squeezed.
Eddie could tell he was getting anxious and overstressed about this topic again. “If they don't, then we’ll just ditch them,” Eddie lifted Richie’s hand and gave it a light kiss. Richie loved it when Eddie showed affection, it immediately lowered his anxiety. “but you know they’ll be super happy for us. Come on Richie, its the Loser’s we’re talking about...”
“Yea yea I guess...” Richie sighed a sigh of relief and looked up at the back of Eddie’s head. He moved in close and gave it small kisses.
Eddie laughed at the sensation and squeezed his hand. “Stop it Rich! That tickles you dip!”
Richie ignored Eddie’s plea and continued to kiss the back of his head slowly moving down his neck. Eddie shivered from the sensation and let out a sigh. He was then surprised to feel and arm slink under his knees.
“Oh my go-- Richie do not pick me up.” Richie ignored his request and lifted him anyway, gaining a tiny slap to his back. Eddie wiggled around, “You know I hate being picked up! DO you know how many accidents occur when people are picked up? Especially bridal style! Lots of people hit their heads on objects and get concussions-- how did I get on the bed?”
Eddie usually never pays attention to his surroundings when he starts ranting so Richie found the moment the perfect opportunity to carry him to the bed. Richie laughed at Eddie’s flustered state and flopped down next to him.
“Man I am fucking beat! I am ready to hit the sack, please.” He rolled onto his side and raised his arm trying to coax Eddie to cuddle with him.
He rolled his eyes and turned off the lamp illuminating the room. He moved in closer and pressed his face into his chest.
Richie hugged Eddie close and gave him a goodnight kiss on the top of his head. “Goodnight spaghetti boy o’ mine.” He felt a quick sharp pain in his leg and laughed.
“Night moron...,” (muffled speech) there was silence for a moment and Eddie said something that Richie could quite make out.
“What?”
“I-I said...i...i love you. Now shut up and sleep before I die of embarrassment.”
Richie smiled wide. Eddie couldn’t see because it was pitch black and his face was pressed into his chest, but he knew.
“I love you too...”
They then drifted off to sleep in the warmth and comfort of each other’s presence and touch.
_______
Bevvie: Ok so where yall at?
Bird Boy: Me and Bill are right around the corner
Bevvie: Yea bu what about Rich and Ed? They’ve been MIA since this morning??????
Billie: Idk try calling him?
Bevvie: Ye ill do that
Bevvie: See u guys whn yal get here.
“R-Richie...” Richie grabbed at the back of Eddie’s shirt and pressed their lips harder together. From the corner of his eye, Eddie could see Richie’s phone light up.
“Shit Beverly’s calling us.”
“Just leave it...” Richie sighed, pressing his face into his neck, trying to avert his attention back to his lips but Eddie ignored him, picked up the phone, and answered.
“Yea?....oh yea it was just next to me so...yea we’re coming still...out of breath? No, I’m totally fine...” Eddie laughed nervously “Yea bye, see you guys later.” He hung up the phone and put it back down.
Richie stared at him with a frustrated look.
“You get to kiss me all the time Richie, why are you mad now?” Eddie crossed his arms and chuckled.
“I’m not mad at that you dip! I’m mad cuz you answered the phone! You know I don’t want to go to this party!” Richie grabbed his glasses from the bed and put them on.
“Richie, oh my fucking god are you serious? We’ve talked about this party for weeks! Remember buying these stupid ass costumes?” Eddie angrily pointed at the couple's costume sitting next to them.
Richie frowned. It’s not the party he was worried about though. Eddie seemed to have forgotten about the big secret they’ve been keeping from the rest of the world, aside from Richie’s mom who accidentally walked in on them making out once (she was completely supportive though).
“Eddie... I don’t know if I can...,” Richie bit his fingernail from the anxiety building up in his chest “if I can come out to them.”
Eddie sighed and quickly felt saddened. “Richie...”
“They’ll be upset that I hid it from them, hid us from them. They’re not gonna want to be my friends Eddie! They’ll hate me!” Richie’s eyes started to well up. He looked down as the tears started to fall down.
Eddie placed a hand on Richie’s cheek, wiping the tears away. “Calm down Richie, calm down.” He kissed his forehead and hugged him close.
They stayed together for a while until Richie calmed down. Somehow, after lots of begging and consolation, Eddie convinced Richie to at least try going to the party. They put their costumes on and looked at each other.
Richie burst out laughing. “Holy shit! You look hilarious. You look like a little gay uncle from the 70′s.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean!?” Eddie punched Richie in the arm and glared at him. “Anyways you look gayer than me! Come on you have a fucking white turtleneck on under a rainbow sweater vest!”
“Yea but your turtleneck is yellow so....fuck you.” Richie laughed and grabbed his phone. “Let’s take a picture, Spaghetti.”
Eddie groaned and moved next to him to take a selfie. Rich took a few pictures and laughed.
He raised his hand into the air and put on his stupid British voice. “Alright now. Let us venture off into the night and hopefully not get abandoned by the only people that love and care about me!”
“Yea yea finally let's go! We’re already an hour late...”
They walked out of their dorm room and made their way downstairs to the lobby of the dorms.
--------------------
Richie parked his car out front of the building and took a deep breath.
“Alright let's crash this fucking Halloween party.”
Eddie furrowed his brow and looked at Richie in confusion. “No Rich, we’re not crashing this party. Don’t you dare think about that.”
“Just a joke sourpuss.” Richie moved over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Eddie laughed and they both made their way out of the car. Richie walked over to him and took his hand. He could feel the anxiety building up in his chest the closer they got to the front of the building.
“Richie your hands are so clammy.” Eddie laughed and let go to wipe off the sweat. “Maybe you have hyperhidrosis, like when people get super sweaty and always have raisin fingers--”
Eddie looked back to see Richie standing still looking petrified. His eyes were wide and his mouth was open. He was hyperventilating and shaking.
“Richie!?” Eddie’s heart dropped. He ran over to him and held his face.
Richie’s world was crashing down on him. He couldn’t breathe. His chest was tight like someone was squeezing his lungs. His legs trembled with fright and they soon gave out on him. Eddie fell to the ground with him, still holding his face.
“I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t!!” Richie choked out the only thing he could think about.
“Richie what’s wrong!? Why are you having a panic attack!?” Eddie held him close and comforted him as best he could but it didn’t seem like he was calming down. “I’m gonna go get the others! Beverly will know what to do!”
Richie couldn’t form words very well since it felt like his emotions were a tidal wave going through his brain. He tried to grab Eddie and not let him leave him, but he pulled away and ran to the party house.
Eddie ran inside the house and looked around at the crowds of drunken college students yelling and dancing throughout the house. He panicked thinking he’d never find anyone in the crowds. He squeezed his way through the crowds looking around for firey red hair.
He ran up to random people and asked if they knew Beverly but of course none of them knew. He ran down hallways and knocked on closed doors, even walking in on a few couples engaging in the fine sport of twister. Even after spamming the group chat, no one was answering anything.
He was at loss and out of breath. He was about to just give up and go back outside to comfort his fallen partner until he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Eddie...right?” She was someone Eddie had seen in some of his classes, but he never knew her name.
“Y-Yes??” He tried to catch his breath and compose himself, but ultimately failed.
“You’re looking for Beverly, right? Someone texted me saying there was a crazed child running around asking for her.”
Eddie nodded enthusiastically. “Yes please, do you know where she is!”
She pointed towards the back of the house. “She’s outside by the pool! I was just with her.”
Eddie hugged the girl without really thinking about it. “Thank you!”
He ran out the back door towards the pool.
“BEVERLYYYYYY!!!!!!!”
She whipped her head around at breakneck speed. “Eddie!!” She smiled wide and stood up ready to hug him. The rest of the losers watched as Eddie grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards the house.
Beverly was tripping over her own feet trying to process all the sudden events happening to her at once.
“Jesus Christ Eddie!!!” There were a couple times she couldn’t keep up with his speed, so she would trip a little and almost fall. “What’s going on!? Where are you taking me!?”
“Richie!”
Beverly could tell something was wrong so she didn’t question anymore.
------
It seemed like he had lost time because the next thing he felt was Beverly’s arms wrapping around him and hugging him close.
“Rich omg what’s wrong? Are you alright?” She ran her hand over his head and rubbed his back as he cried onto her shoulder. He was shaking intensely and choking out sobs.
She shushed him and held him close.
“Eddie, what happened?”
Eddie shrugged. “I-I don’t know! He just, like, freaked the hell out and fell to the ground. I think-I think he’s having a panic attack or something.” He kneeled down and rubbed Richie’s back.
“Well yeah, obviously he had a panic attack, Eddie!”
Soon enough Richie calmed down enough to gather himself.
“Thanks, Bev.” He hugged her again and sighed. “That was a lot...”
“Yeah, now what the fuck happened to you? People just don’t randomly have panic attacks...”
A blush spread across his face as he tried to think of how to form a cohesive sentence. “Well...uh. You see. Me and-- Me and Eddie... Well uh--”
Eddie laughed and rolled his eyes. “We’re, well me and Richie are, uh, dating. We’re dating.”
Bev stared at them blankly. Richie could feel his face heating up and his throat closing. She suddenly burst out laughing, bending over and holding her stomach. “Y’all think this was a surprise!?”
Richie and Eddie looked at each other confused and lost.
“W-What?”
“Not gonna lie, you guys are horrible at keeping secrets. We all guessed it, but we didn’t want to like assume and make you guys uncomfortable.”
Richie and Eddie comically looked at each other with a blank expression, then at Beverly. They broke out laughing hysterically.
“Here I was freaking out about what y’all would say and shit! And y’all already knew!” Richie laughed and slapped Eddie on the back.
“Ow! Dickhead...” Eddie punched him back in the arm.
“Well let’s go find these other eggheads and introduce ourselves.” Richie grabbed Eddie and Beverly’s hands and made his way toward the house.
----------------
“EY Y’ALL SLOPPY BITCHES!!! THE KINGS HAVE ARRIVED!!”
All the Losers turned their heads towards the loud and obnoxious voice they’ve all come to love.
“Richie!!”
“No! The name’s Bert. And this is my lovely husband, Ernie.”
Eddie frown and kicked at Richie’s leg. “Hey guys!”
“Wait, you two dressed up as Bert and Ernie? You know they’re a gay couple right?” Bill laughed a bit in confusion.
Mike already understood what was going on and laughed placing his forehead in his palm. “Oh Bill...if only you weren't so naive.”
Richie blushed hard as he grabbed Eddie’s hand. “Well, why else would we be dressed up as them?”
The Losers all gasped in surprise, they all stood and ran other to them. They all embraced and congratulated the two.
“Now that I am here, can we all go get drunk off our asses and vomit out our intestines!?”
All at once they yelled out “Yes!!”
The rest of the night was chaotic in the best way possible. Although Eddie had originally said not to, they ended up crashing the party anyway, and by they, it was actually Eddie, who had climbed on top of the kitchen counter, drunk off his ass, and kicked over the punch bowl. It shattered on the floor, red punch spiked with vodka was everywhere, including the gummy eyeballs put in there for a spooky effect. All seven were chased out into the night by the party host. Eddie flipped them off and had to be carried away by Ben.
“Just pick a damn outfit Richie!” Stan groaned for what felt like the millionth time that night.
Richie ignored Stan’s blatant attitude and continued to look at himself in the mirror. He wore an outlandish looking, multicolored striped shirt tucked into some black jeans.
“The chain on the side of the Jean pocket looks desperate don’t ya think?” He tells Stan. He doesn’t expect an answer but still looks over his shoulder at the exhausted boy as if expecting one. Stan looks up from his position atop the boy’s bed, but rolls his eyes at the comment.
Richie makes a whine that sounds like he’s in immense pain. How can he not be nervous when Eddie Frank Kaspbrak has decided to graciously be his date to the carnival?
Richie felt like his heart was going to climb out of his chest and slap the shit out of him. He was sweating and his breathing was becoming labored. In his busted red truck was a bouquet of yellow tulips, and a speech he’d practiced for four days. His car gave a rumbling sound as it sat in the Kaspbrak driveway.
“Come on Tozier, don’t be a bitch.” He whispered harshly to himself. He continued to whisper meanly to himself for around 5 minutes.
“It’s just Ed’s you nervous fuck” He sighed. He shook every remaining thought out of his head, and before he could get cold feet, left for the front of Eddie’s door. The bouquet of yellow roses say delicately in his right hand. He twisted them in his hand, playing around with the weight. He was fidgeting and he knew it.
The bouquet started to stick to his fingers from the sweat coming off his hands. He could faintly hear moving from outside the red door, though muffled. Richie has made sure he came over when Sonia was gone, so that meant Eddie was downstairs doing god knows what. Which meant that once Richie knocked, Eddie would immediately be there to open the door. Which is normal but it made Richie’s heart pound even harder.
He grunted tiredly to himself. He wanted this so badly that it physically hurt him. He hated the lingering touches, the sneaky glances, and all the “almost’s”. He could do everything he’s ever wanted with Eddie and it all starts here.
With that last thought, he knocked on the door. And just like he thought, Eddie was there within three seconds.
At first Eddie was excited to see his best friend at his door unexpectedly, but once he saw the bouquet his face went from excitement to confusion.
“Hey Rich” he spoke. His face still held a bit of confusion but was happy nonetheless. His eyebrows furrowed and his eyes kept flicking from the bouquet to Richie. ‘Cute’ Richie thought.
Richie realized he had been silent for too long and panicked.
“Hey Eddie” he waved awkwardly with the bouquet and almost made the flowers fall as a result, but caught them with his left hand in time. Eddie laughed at his sudden demeanor change and looked back up with a slight smile on his face.
Richie looked back up and expected to be embarrassed but found his heart melting at Eddie’s smile.
“What’re the flowers for, Rich?” Eddie asked with genuine curiosity. He looked over at the beautiful arrangement. Yellow flowers with small white accent flowers put in between.
The question caught Richie by surprise. His hands were sweating all over again, and his mouth was dry. His nervousness started to take over but before it could he did the only thing he was good at, talking.
“These flowers are for you. I uhh want to take you to the fair, as my date y’know. Like I’ll pay for your ticket and everything like the gentlemen that I am because I like you Eddie Spaghetti, I mean Eddie. I just hope that if you say ‘no’ that we can still continue to be friends and you won’t tell me to fuck off forever.” Richie said that entire thing with his eyes shut. It wasn’t as romantic as what he had written down, but hey, it still got the point across.
Richie, with sweat dripping down every crevice of his body, slowly opened his eyes and saw something he never would’ve imagined. Eddie stood in his doorway with a tearful shine in his eyes and hands cupping over his mouth. His eyes had three small lines around the edges that indicated that he was smiling.
He looked so beautiful, that much Richie said out loud. Eddie made a wet sound into his hands, at first it looked like he was crying but he was laughing.
Richie just stood there awkwardly until Eddie came up for air.
“God, Richie this is” he paused to look back at the flowers in Richie’s still sweaty hands “this is way more than I could’ve ever asked for” Eddie said breathlessly.
Richie saw the look in his eye, ‘he feels the same way.’ Richie outstretched his hands to give Eddie the flowers with a dopey smile across his face. Eddie took them wordlessly with a face full of awe.
“So..” Richie continues “will you go to the fair with me Friday night?” His hands were permanently fidgeting and even though he was now 99% sure what the answer would be, his voice still came out strained. Eddie looked up with a smile that went ear to ear and nodded.
Both boys looked at eachother unsure of what to do next.
“I’ll pick you up at 7 Eds, don’t make me wait” He tried sounding smooth but his voice came out cracky and excited.
“Yeah, see ya then” Eddie buried his face into the roses and blushed harshly.
Richie smiled at the memory fondly. He looked down, back at the mirror and looked at his new outfit. A dark floral button up that flowed at his waist layered with a long sleeved, black U-neck. The pants were ripped from knee to mid-thigh, connected to the pockets were small chains. Richie sighed and looked over at Stan, surprised to see him actually looking at him and not his ceiling.
“You’ve got ten minutes Rich” Stan stated. Richie flinched and looked at his phone, 6:51pm.
“Fuuuuuucckkk” Richie drawled loudly. With the commotion of getting his keys and wallet you could hear a faint “Language!” Coming from downstairs. Stan watched as his childhood friend ran frantically around his room saying profanities as he walked out the door.
“What? No flowers this time Romeo.”
“The fuck up Stan!”
~
I’m outside.
Eddie looked in the mirror one last time. His blonde hair fluffed and primped. Looking down he saw his sweater start to ride up, not enough to show skin, but enough to tease the thought. Eddie shivered, he had to admit he was nervous. A big fear he had was that once the date got going it would be awkward.
‘Date’
After all this time he can’t believe that Richie was the first one to make a move. Yes, the tension had become unbearable after last summer. Two of the losers were gone, so Richie and Eddie have spent more time alone together than they used to. That was when their feelings started overflowing. Though, they continued walking on the fine line that separated friends from more than friends.
He heard a ‘beep’ outside and knew his date was getting antsy. Eddie rolled his eyes at how childish Richie was. He wasn’t waiting that long.
Eddie let out one more long sigh before choking down his nerves and walking out the door.
~
Richie let out a wolf whistle as Eddie descended the stairs of his house.
“Lookin good Eds!” He yelled after him. The grin on his face was brighter than the sun. It made Eddie have a smile of his own
“Not too bad yourself Trashmouth” the nickname rolled off his tongue without thinking. At first Eddie thought that maybe the nicknames were too informal for their first date, but quickly shoved that thought down. The nicknames were part of their dynamic, plus there was no way in hell Richie could ever call him by his first name for an entire night.
Eddie reached out to open the door but was met with a quick smack to his hand. Eddie looked up fast, ready to fight back, but his fist was already being intertwined with Richie’s fingers.
“I’m trying to woo you here Eds.” He deadpans. Richie shakes his as if disappointed as his lanky arm reaches over to the handle of the car door to open it, and slowly it creaks to life.
Richie bows slowly, “After you mi amor” he said in what could be a French accent. Eddie snorts but can’t hide the blush that engulfs his face at the courtship. He quickly shuffled into the car and is surprised to see that it’s cleaned. The sticky stains on the dashboard have been wiped, every crumb on the floor and in between the seats have vanished, and there was a delectable smell in the air.
He takes a whiff of the air and is pleased to smell cherries. ‘He really outdid himself’ Eddie thinks. He hears a loud clunk coming from beside him and sees Richie hurriedly getting in the car.
“Ready for the best date of your life Spaghetti” Richie exclaimed. Although his words contradicted it, Richie looked nervous. His hands were fidgeting badly and he kept looking between Eddie and the steering wheel. Eddie sensed his anxiety, and did what he thought would help.
Eddie took Richie’s hand in his and brought his knuckles to his mouth, giving each a small kiss. Richie remained in eye contact with Eddie the entire time. Even after Eddie was done the eye contact stayed. They stayed in that position for awhile, just staring into the other’s eyes. Richie wanted to lean in, wanted to finally fulfill every fantasy-Well not all fantasies- he’s ever had. But in order to do that, the date had to be flawless. Meaning, he’d have to wait until the very end to kiss Eddie’s precious lips.
Richie coughed and both boys sprung away from each other like their ass was on fire.
“Let’s get this show on the road eds.” Richie chuckled nervously. Eddie nodded while looking straight ahead. ``why'd I do that’ Eddie internally reprimanded himself. His cheeks were on fire as he continued to verbally abuse himself.
The volume of the radio was suddenly blared out, which made Eddie look over from his spot at the window. Richie wasn’t looking at him, but he could see the smirk etched across his face. He didn’t know why until he heard the lyrics of what was playing.
Deepthroat-Cupcakke
“Oh my god! Can you take anything seriously, Richie” Eddie covered his mouth to keep from bursting out with laughter. As quickly as it came, the tension dissipated. They spent the rest of the ten minute car ride laughing, and yelling crude lyrics at each other.
~
The Fair was lit up like a torch, you were able to see it behind the locks of trees that surrounded it. Richie and Eddie were walking up to the opening excited. They’re talking amongst themselves while getting out of the car. Any outsider would’ve thought they’d been dating for years.
The fair itself was amazing. Richie pulled all the stops. He bought Eddie funnel cake.
”Stay just like that” Richie hurries. eddie freezes like a deer in headlights at the sudden outburst. eddie just stares as Richie gets his phone out. the picture snaps and richie unapologetically stares at the picture with nothing but admiration. “You had powder on your nose””Richie!”
He paid for their pictures in the photo booth.
The tight space was oddly intimate in Richie’s eyes. He would’ve made a joke at how close they were, but clamped his mouth shut once the countdown started. The first picture is just them smiling brightly at the camera. Second is a silly one, that’s definitely going in Richie’s wallet, with Eddie having bunny ears over Richie’s head and Richie with his tongue out. The third and final one caught Eddie by surprise. The picture contained Richie smacking his lips against Eddie’s bloodshot cheeks. After the picture was shot Eddie looked up at Richie with wide eyes. Richie laughed at eddie’s embarrassment and shoo’s for him to get out the booth.
Richie made sure they played every game, and rode every ride in sight. At the end of the night Eddie held a small stuffed frog named Jackie, and Richie a panda named carlos.
”For someone with long arms you suck at ring toss” Eddie deadpanned, holding Jackie closer to his chest. The night was creeping in as the wind whispered at all of eddie’s exposed skin. “Maybe it’s because I knew my Knight Eddie Spaghetti would come save me from those evil bottles” richie gleamed. Eddie scoffed at how ridiculous Richie was.
Now, they were ending the night. A fresh breeze crossed the night viscously. They sat at the top of the ferris wheel holding each other. Around half-way through their third ride they stopped trying to limit the touching and romantic gestures. Hand-holding and cheeky forehead kisses entered the mix halfway through their date.
“Thank you so much for everything Rich” Eddie say wishfully. He continues to look at the sky, and Richie can clearly see every freckle stretched across Eddie’s face. After a moment without an answer Eddie turns around to see Richie insanely close to his face.
“Hi’ Richie whispers.
Eddie giggles, “Hi Richie”
They breathe in each other for awhile before Richie finally breaks.
“Baby, please let me kiss you.” Richie whispers into Eddie’s ear. Eddie shivers and lets a small breath. Without answering eddie takes Richie’s face in his hands and surges their mouths together. Their lips dance together gracefully in the mist of night. Richie absentmindedly places his hand on Eddie’s thigh, bringing him impossibly closer. They get drunk off each other before pulling away, breathing heavily. They smile at each other, and Eddie brings his head to Richie’s shoulder as they continue to watch the stars.
Not even five seconds go by before Richie speaks again.
“This date couldn’t have turned out more perfect Eddie,” he turns his head to look at Eddie’s doe eyes.
“Would you make my night even more perfect, and be my um, boyfriend” The blue tint in his eyes sparkled brightly, you couldn’t miss it with how close Eddie was to him. There was only one answer that was appropriate at this time,
Not from laughing, like that one time in middle school (which, by the way, none of the others have let him live it down -- “Richie pissed himself! Richie pissed himself!”) but from pure, concentrated nerves.
What the hell was he even anxious for? This is Eddie, for Christ’s sake. He’s known this man since they were six. Six! This is one of the people who have seen him through his worst, which includes those few years of god awful acne, his emo phase freshman year, and, of course, the time he pissed himself from laughing too hard.
And yet he’s still on the couch bouncing his leg like his life depended on it. There’s a mere crumb of doubt that’s making him want to put the whole thing off for another day. What if Eddie had a stressful day at work and just wants to go to bed as soon as he gets home? What if the ring isn’t the right size? And, god forbid, what if Eddie says no?
…
He wouldn’t.
Richie can hear the lock on the door opening. He raises his eyes, and the door opens. There he is.
“Hey.” There’s a gentle smile on Eddie’s face.
“Hey,” Richie quietly echoes.
Eddie drops his keys on the shelf tray and his bag by the door, and makes his way over to plop himself down on the couch next to Richie. “How was your day?”
I’ve almost puked three times in the span of 24 hours. “The usual. You?”
“Ugghhh.” Eddie throws his head back against Richie’s lap and closes his eyes. “Rough.”
“...So, the usual?”
“Yeah.”
And as he’s looking down at Eddie’s face, his stomach flips. He still has the sprays of freckles across his cheekbones from childhood days full of cherry popsicles and sunshine beating against his skin. Below one particular patch sits a straight, thick scar right in the curve of his cheek. Before, Richie had been careful not to graze it with his thumb when his hands are on Eddie’s face while they kiss, because it was a reminder of something that hovered over him at the late hours of night, something that sat on his chest while he was in bed and made it so hard to breathe that he nearly began to understand Eddie’s old need for his inhaler.
But those things in a different light at that moment. Yes, it was absolutely fucking horrifying and Richie wishes he never had to live through all of it. But...
They’re alive.
Their hearts are beating.
“Eddie?”
“Mmm?”
Richie carefully moves Eddie’s head off his thighs and slinks off the couch onto the worn carpet, while Eddie sits up and raises an eyebrow.
“Listen,” Richie begins, “I’ve-”
“What are you doing?”
“Just shush-”
“Are you breaking up with me?” Eddie’s tone is obviously joking, and Richie breathes out a nervous giggle.
“No- just- no, you asshole. Listen.”
Eddie crosses his arms. Richie continues;
“I, uh… I love you, you know that?”
Eddie gives a slow nod.
“And, um. Those 27 years-”
“Rich, I don’t want to think about-”
“Those 27 years I spent… without everybody, without you... I was waiting. I didn’t know what for, but I was waiting. Like when I would wait for you to open your damn window so I could come in, when we were younger.” That draws a chuckle out of both of them.
“But it wasn’t those 30 seconds you would take to open your window. It was almost 30 years of my life. And… and now I don’t have to. I don’t have to wait.” He pauses to fumble in his pants pocket, keeping his eyes on Eddie.
“Richie…”
The box is a baby blue velvet. The same color as the sky above the quarry. The same color as the new bike Eddie got for his 14th birthday. The same color as Richie’s tear-filled eyes.
“And I don’t want to wait any longer.”
When Richie opens the box, Eddie’s hands fly to his face.
“Will you marry me?”
…
“Eds?”
…
“Aw, shit, Eddie, I’m sorry-”
And Eddie’s body starts lightly shaking. Richie can’t tell if he’s laughing or crying.
A confused smile spreads across Richie’s lips. “Is that a yes?”
“You are so stupid and I am so in love with you.”
Richie starts laughing and leans up to pull on Eddie’s wrists. “Eds!”
“Yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes I’ll marry you.” Eddie finally pulls his hands off of his face. His cheeks are wet but he’s grinning from ear to ear, and Richie wraps an arm around his waist and kisses the tears off of his face.
“Gimme your hand.”
Eddie sets it on his knee and watches as Richie tenderly pulls the ring from its box. It’s a beautiful white gold, shining just as brightly as both of their smiles, with tiny diamonds wrapping around the circumference of the band.
“It’s pretty,” Eddie says.
“Yeah?” Richie responds, slipping the ring on Eddie’s shaking finger.
“Really, really pretty.”
“Does it fit?”
“Yeah.”
Richie can’t stop smiling, and pulls Eddie down on the floor with him, the two of them squeezed between the couch and the coffee table. Their mouths are instantly connected, but it’s all teeth and laughter and Eddie pulling away to gaze at the ring.
“I can’t believe you proposed to me in our shitty apartment living room.” Eddie says as he rests his face in the crook of Richie’s neck.
Richie places his hands on the small of Eddie’s back. “I didn’t wanna put it off any longer. Did you want a big grand proposal?”
Eddie gently shakes his head, and Richie can feel him smiling against his skin. “I would’ve loved it either way.” He sits up and presses another kiss to Richie’s lips. “I do love it. I love you.”
my gift for @pawprinterfanfic for the reddie halloween exchange!
the prompt was “college setting” and i imagined about them chilling in their dorm on halloween night… richie could tell some actually scary stories but eddie knows pretty much every urban legend so he’s constantly like “debunked!!”. also don’t worry those are fake candles
Eddie Kaspbrak never knew loving someone could hurt so much.
He was eighteen when he found out. It was his first year of college, and his insufferable roommate managed to worm his way into his heart.
(Fuck that guy.)
Richie was everything he should’ve hated — he was messy, and loud, and annoying. He did hate him. He hated his crude jokes, and his trash mouth, and his smile that caused his heart to skip a beat, and his gorgeous eyes, and his ability to make him laugh at anything, and how his heart was seemingly always in the right place, and—
Yeah. Eddie was a goner.
At eighteen years old, he knew that he was in love with Richie Tozier. Now, at twenty-one, Eddie realized how awful it was.
He was in love with someone who didn’t love him back.
It was torture, and Eddie hated it more than he hated much else before. It felt like he was doomed to be friends with the idiot for a long time — which was fantastic because Richie was a great guy — but it also sucked ass, because he really, really, really wanted to kiss him more than any friend should.
Don’t get him wrong; he was happy being Richie’s friend, because being anything with Richie was worlds better than being nothing with him. He’d gladly silently pine over him for years if it meant he could have his friendship. He was his best friend, and he wouldn’t trade that for anything.
Having a massive crush on his roommate may or may not have had anything to do with his current situation, which involved getting dressed up to go dance with a bunch of sweaty adults, drinking alcohol that tasted like shit, and staying out half the night.
“It’ll be fun,” Richie repeated, following Eddie as he moved around their tiny apartment.
After spending freshmen year living in the college dorms together, they pooled their resources and rented off-property, which was probably one of their better decisions. Usually, they shared one brain cell when they were within ten feet of each other.
“If you say that one more time, I will kill you.” Eddie dumped his armful of freshly washed clothing onto the couch before turning to make his way to the kitchen, not stopping to give Richie a spare glance. “It’s not going to be fun. Dancing in someone’s dark and moist little basement will never be fun. You can quote me on that.”
“Please, for the love of god, never say moist again.”
Eddie pulled the tag off the bag of bread and plopped two pieces into the toaster. Richie hauled himself onto the counter, his feet swinging back and forth like he was a kid on a swing set.
“Moist is a fine word, Richard. Just like phlegm, and panties, and ointment, and—”
“Ew.” Richie gave a violent shudder and sent a sour look at the other man. Eddie tried to keep the corners of his lips from twitching upwards. He found bothering Richie fun. Sue him. “You really know how to kill the mood, don’t you, Kaspbrak?”
“There never was a mood, dipshit. Besides, I was just listing a bunch of perfectly normal words in the English language. I didn’t know you were going to gag at them.”
Richie tried to scowl. Eddie almost would’ve believed it, save for the smile curling his lips. “I hate you,” he said.
Eddie pursed his lips. “Do you, now?”
The facade cracked easily. The scowl disappeared, leaving Richie grinning widely. “You’re right. I’m a liar. I love you. My lil’ Eddie Spaghetti.”
Richie made a move to press his lips to Eddie’s cheek, but he stepped out of the way. The butter knife, covered in soy butter, pointed in his direction. Richie must’ve anticipated his response, because he gave an exaggerated wink and ruffled Eddie’s hair.
“If you’re trying to convince me to come with you, you’re doing a shitty job,” he pointed out. His heart was still pounding from when Richie made a move to kiss his cheek, and he hoped his body wasn’t betraying him with a blush. “You’re annoying the shit out of me, Rich.”
“But you luv me,” he sang, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Sure, like I love wet socks, maybe.”
Eddie Kaspbrak was a liar.
Richie wasn’t deterred and continued to pester him. “It will be fun. I’ll be there. Bill will be there. Stan will be there. Mike will be there. Bev will be there. Ben will—”
“I get it. Everyone will be there.”
Eddie reached around Richie to grab a glass from the cupboard behind him. He moved out of the way of the swinging door, thus moving right into Eddie’s space. He bit his tongue and forced his eyes to remain on the task at hand.
Don’t get distracted. Don’t look at him. Don’t look at—
Fuck, he has really pretty eyes. And his stupid smile, god, I want to kiss that stupid smile right off his face. And—
Wait! No! Fuck!
Eddie jolted backwards, pulling his glass with him. Richie didn’t say anything and only raised an eyebrow as he slid back against the cupboard.
Eddie’s heart was pounding. Being so close to Richie was unhealthy — all he wanted to do was tell him how in love with him he was, and that was guaranteed to end in disaster and embarrassment.
“It’s our last year in college, Eds, and after this we’ll be adults.” Richie wrinkles his nose at the word, like it thoroughly disgusted him. “How many opportunities do you think we’ll have as fucking adults to go to a Halloween party? Do you think we’ll ever be able to get dressed up in shitty store-bought costumes and eat so much candy our stomach hurts ever again?” He didn’t wait for him to respond. “No! We’ll be old and boring by Halloween 1998. This is our last chance!”
“First of all, you’re a dramatic bitch, Rich. Secondly, I’m fairly confident adults have Halloween parties.”
“Are you an adult?”
“Well, I am twenty-one years old, so—”
“Are you an actual graduated adult living in the real world, and not this weird in-between pre-adulthood thing called college?” Richie cocked an eyebrow, already knowing the answer. “Exactly. So how confident are you that actual adults in the real world celebrate Halloween?”
Eddie was silent for a long moment because, well, he wasn’t entirely sure. His mother had been a pretty big downer when he was growing up, and she hated Halloween with a passion. She never let him go trick-or-treating, just in case someone put razor blades in his Kit Kat — he couldn’t ever imagine her going to a Halloween party.
“Exactly.” Richie adjusted his glasses on his nose after he jumped off the counter top. “I know you hate Halloween and shit, but it’ll be fun.”
“I don’t hate Halloween.” Eddie didn’t bother to tell him off for saying that it was going to be fun again. Knowing Richie, he would start saying that more just to annoy him. “I just don’t like it.”
“You once told me that you’d rather sleep on the public bathroom floor than celebrate Halloween, Eds.” Eddie cringed at the visual. Public bathrooms were disgusting, and don’t get him started on the floor!? Ew, ew, ew, ew— “I arrest my case.”
“Okay, maybe I do hate Halloween, but that’s because it’s so boring. What? I’m supposed to dress up as something? And walk around, asking strangers for candy? And then eat that candy? That sounds horrible!”
“Sorry to break it to you, Eds, but I think we’re a tad too old to be trick-or-treating. No talking to strangers for you this year, unfortunately.”
Eddie sat down in the kitchen chair ungracefully, the plate clattering to the table in front of him. He gave Richie a deadpan look. “Ha ha,” he said sarcastically.
Richie slid into the chair opposite to him and stole a slice of toast from his plate. Eddie didn’t comment. Richie jacking his food was more common than he’d admit.
“Halloween is great, you just don’t know it yet! We will go to this party together and, since I’m the master of all things spooky, I’ll show you just how great Halloween is.” He took a bite of toast, sending crumbs flying.
Eddie nibbled on the piece of bread in contemplation. Richie watched him, his eyes wide and leg bouncing.
Finally, Eddie gave in. “I don’t have a costume.”
Richie must’ve sensed that he was beginning to consider it, and he pounced. Seeing how excited he was about Eddie going with him to this stupid party almost made his heart skip a beat.
“I can get you a discount on costumes,” he said, crumbs going everywhere.
That was Richie’s newest gig — working at Oh My Spooky at the mall, a seasonal store that popped up every August, claiming the empty of buildings of deceased department stores, like Kmart.
“The party’s in like… two hours, Rich. Spooky is closed.”
“Right, right.” He waved his hand, dismissing the idea. “I’ll just let you borrow one of mine. We had to wear costumes on shift, right, so I have like a shit ton of costumes in my room.”
“I know, idiot. I live with you. Your room is a disaster.”
It was true. Richie’s room was a disaster year round, but it looked like the sight of a natural disaster during the month of October. If he got desperate, Eddie was sure Richie could make a good buck by selling all the costumes he accumulated.
Richie grasped the rims of his glasses and squinted his eyes dramatically, giving Eddie a once over. Eddie had been friends with Richie long enough to know he should just let him do his thing. He continued to nibble on the toast.
Finally, their eyes met again. “But, you’re like, really fucking tiny, Eds, so—”
“Fuck off,” he said, tossing a piece of crust at his head. Richie grinned and caught it in his mouth. “I’m not really fucking tiny.”
“Aw, you are, sweetheart, you just can’t face the facts.” Richie had the audacity to lean across the table and boop Eddie on the nose. “Cute, cute, cute!”
He swatted Richie’s hand away from him. His heart was racing. Butterflies were rolling in his stomach. He felt his cheeks burning, and he was sure Richie was going to tease him about it.
Before he could, Eddie tried to cover his tracks. He narrowed his eyes and pointed threateningly at Richie. “I will murder you.”
“See! You have the Halloween spirit!” Richie leaned back in his chair, grinning wider than Eddie could remember. His stupid smile made Eddie want to smile. Fuck him. “Are you in, then? You’re coming tonight?”
Maybe it was because Richie’s smile was doing something funny to his brain, or maybe it was because he wanted to go to a party with Richie before they graduated, or maybe it was because he was a little curious as to why everyone loved Halloween, but he nodded.
“Fine,” he huffed. “I’ll come tonight.” Richie let out a little whoop and jumped up from his chair. “But I won’t enjoy it!”
“You’re so cute when you’re stubborn,” Richie said, reaching forward to boop his nose again. Eddie’s mouth ran dry because—
Fuck, Richie calling him cute was one of his favourite sounds.
“Call me cute again, and I’ll— I’ll—” Fuck, he didn’t have a comeback. Richie seemed to love the fact Eddie was rendered speechless, and laughed a little harder.
“Cute, cute, cute!”
“Asshole,” he muttered, shoving the last piece of toast into his mouth. Richie grinned brightly at that, and it was the final straw for Eddie. He felt a smile of his own spread across his face. It was hard not to smile with Richie in the room.
“Wait there. I’ll get your costume.”
Richie was already running out of the kitchen before Eddie swallowed his toast to respond. “Nothing with less fabric than—”
“Your mom’s underwear!? Got it!”
Eddie’s head fell to his hands. “No, Richard, I wasn’t, in fact, going to use my mother’s underwear as a reference, but thank you! I was going to say—”
Richie peeled back into the kitchen before Eddie could finish his sentence, two costumes strung across his arms. “Doesn’t matter. Here.”
He tossed the first costume at Eddie’s head, and he managed to catch it before a metal belt buckle could whip him in the eye. It took him less than three seconds to examine the fabric and come to a verdict.
“Absolutely fucking not, Richard. What the fuck!? Why the fuck would I want to go as sexy Robin? That makes no fucking sense!” Richie is doubled over from laughing so hard, and Eddie was finding it exceedingly difficult not to join in.
“I just wanted to see your expression,” he managed to get out between laughs. “Fucking classic!”
Eddie felt a smile pulling at his lips, and he was desperate not to let Richie see it.
(Because, to be honest, if Richie saw the reaction he invoked in him, he never would shut up.)
(And, yes, that was it.)
(No, it had nothing to do with the fact he was helplessly in love with him and smiling at him like he hung the stars in the sky would give that away.)
(Really.)
(Eddie Kaspbrak was many things, but a liar was not one of them.)
“Why the fuck did you have this in your room!?” he questioned, hanging onto the threads of annoyance. His question made Richie laugh harder. Fuck. Knowing he was the one making Richie laugh did funny things to his heart.
“Your mom loves role-play, didn’t you know? She— Ouch! Fuck!” Eddie had thrown the costume at Richie with a glare.
“Shut up,” he said, but it was no use. The two of them were looking at each other, and Eddie couldn’t keep his smile down any longer. He shook his head fondly and leaned back in his chair. “Please tell me you have something better than sexy Robin?”
Richie lifted up a red and blue outfit, his eyebrow raised in question. Eddie pulled a face when he realized it was supposed to be Mario from Mario Brothers. When Eddie insulted the costume, Richie looked personally offended.
“You don’t want to go as this godly man!?” Eddie didn’t ask Richie why Mario was so godly, but he took it upon himself to explain. “He saved the world — multiple times, may I add. He fights bad guys, he dodges those green shell dudes, he eats a shit ton of mushrooms, he fights for his princess, he can drive. Holy shit, Eddie, he can drive!”
In the end, Richie gave up on trying to sell the Mario costume.
The next pair of costumes to come out were Popeye the Sailorman, which got an immediate no from Eddie, and Scooby-Doo, which also got an immediate no.
Richie stuck out his bottom lip and gave a poor impression of Scooby. “Ruh roh,” he said, his voice rough. “Reddie roesn’t rant to rear me!”
“I was unsure before, but now that’s a solid no.”
This went on for longer than Eddie would care to admit. Richie would bring out a few costumes at a time and, each time, Eddie would find something wrong with it. “I hated that cartoon.” “If I wanted to be a ghost, I’d just cut holes out of one of our sheets.” “Am I supposed to know what that character is?”
Richie was patient, and all Eddie could think of was how good he was, willing to spend forever going through costumes with him, joking all through it, never letting Eddie’s sour mood tarnish his.
Fuck, he couldn’t stop thinking about him. How his lips would curve into a smile that made him want to smile too, how his eyes sparkled like they were part of the ocean, how his freckles spanned his pale skin like stars in the sky. He couldn’t stop thinking about pressing his lips against his, or running his hands through his curls, or feeling his hot breath against his face, and—
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He was so far gone, it wasn’t even funny. When did he turn into a sap? Like, what the fuck?
Eddie was so thrown off guard that, when Richie came with the next costume, he said— “Yes.” Richie’s eyes widened the slightest bit, and that was when Eddie realized he had no idea what he was agreeing too. He cleared his throat and sat a bit straighter. “I mean. Maybe.”
“Oooooooookay then.” Richie adjusted his glasses on his face and continued to watch Eddie carefully. “Listen, man, if you don’t want to come tonight, that’s fine, I don’t want to make you, but—”
“No,” he said quickly.
He didn’t want Richie thinking that he was being forced to do something he didn’t want to because that wasn’t the case. He wanted to go. He wanted to see why Richie liked Halloween so much, and he wanted to get dressed up in a shitty costume and drink shitty alcohol and eat candy that may or may not make him sick. It was going to be fun.
Besides, it meant he got to spend the evening with Richie, and that was good enough for him.
“What’s the next costume?” Richie cocked an eyebrow, and Eddie realized he had no idea what he had been saying only a minute ago. “Sorry, what did you say? I was distracted by the fact that you own a concerning amount of Halloween costumes. I mean, seriously, Rich, this is kind of baffling.”
Richie slid into the kitchen chair opposite from him again. “I have some bad news for you, Eds.” He looked almost… serious. It threw Eddie, just a little bit.
“What? What is it? What’s wrong?”
He leaned forward, stretching his arms across the table and taking hold of Eddie’s hand. All the air left Eddie’s lungs at the contact because, shit, he was holding Richie’s hand. It was cold and clammy, but that seemed to fit him perfectly.
Finally, Richie spoke.
“That’s it. That’s all my costumes. Looks like you have two options from here; go stark naked, or wear what you usually do and say you’re dressed as a nerd.”
Eddie flicked the palm of his hand and crossed his arms. “First off, fuck you. Second off, fuck you.”
Richie smirked. “I take it you don’t want to go naked? C’mon, you’re depriving the world of—“
“No, I’m not going naked, you dumbass. How is going naked a viable solution to this problem anyways!?”
Richie winked. “You caught me. I just wanna see you naked, sweetheart.”
Eddie tried to keep his expression blank, but he could feel his face flushing. Fuck Richie, fuck his ability to flirt with anyone, fuck his stupid body for giving away how affected he would get from his flirting.
“I mean, I do have one last option.”
When Richie returned to the kitchen, he was carrying a yellow onesie. Upon further inspection, he noticed a tail in the shape of a lightning bolt, and pointed ears with black tips, and—
“Pikachu!!”
Eddie moved across the room quickly and dragged his fingertips over the fabric. He was right, the costume was for Pikachu, and it was perfect. He loved the little guy because how could you not? He was a badass, and an immeasurable amount of cute.
“Sold!” Eddie said, snatching the costume fully from Richie’s hands. “Shit, why didn’t you start with this one? You know how much I love Pikachu.”
Maybe Richie was right earlier when he called him a nerd. If liking Pokémon more than he liked his own mother made him a nerd, then so be it!
“Yeah, well, it comes with a catch.” For the first time, Eddie realized how unsure and hesitant Richie looked. He was shifting his weight from foot to foot and had his hands buried in his pockets.
Richie was actually nervous.
“Please tell me that the butt isn’t cut out or something.” Eddie flopped the costume over to check and — nope. All pieces to the costume were there.
“No, there’s nothing wrong with it,” he assured Eddie. “It just isn’t alone.”
“... What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Richie puffed out his cheeks. “It means that it’s part of a set. I, uh, have the costume that matches it. Hold on.” Seconds later, Richie reappeared with his costume in hand.
Oh.
Oh, fuck.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. You’re going as Ash?”
“Hell yeah, man. Gotta catch ‘em all, you know?”
“That makes no fucking sense, Richie, so no, I don’t know.” Eddie tried to ignore how his stomach was twisting. If Richie was going as Ash and he was going as Pikachu, and Richie claimed it was part of a set, that meant— “Wait. Is this a couples costume?”
The words slipped out of Eddie’s mouth and a cold dread settled over him.
Fuck. Just mentioning the word ‘couple’ to Richie felt like he was crossing a line — a line that he drew, one that he was desperate not to cross. Don’t cross this line, he told himself, or you’ll fuck up your friendship.
Richie’s expression was one he hadn’t seen before, and it made his heart race for a completely different reason than before. Was it weird that he suggested it was a couples costume? Or was he being paranoid? Because it felt like mentioning the word ‘couple’ to him was normal, but then again—
“Uh. Yeah. It came as a set, like… a couple costume.” He adjusted his glasses on his nose — a nervous habit. He was looking at him, like he was waiting for him to say something. Eddie’s mouth had run dry and his tongue darted out to wet his lips.
“Oh.” He was racking his brain, trying to figure out the best response in this situation. Finally, he settled on an answer. “Well, that’s okay. I can always wear the ghost costume, or — even better — the sexy Robin.”
Richie didn’t smile at his attempt at a joke. In fact, he looked almost hurt. “What? You’re not going to wear Pikachu?”
Eddie was confused. Of course he wasn’t going to wear a couples costume with Richie — that felt like it was crossing a million lines. Maybe if he wasn’t completely in love with him, it would be a different story, but he was in love with him.
“No.”
“But you were excited about it?” Richie’s next smile was forced — Eddie could tell by the way it didn’t reach his eyes. “Why not?”
This felt like some weird alternate reality to Eddie. This wasn’t happening, was it? Richie wasn’t asking him to explain why he didn’t want to wear a couples costume with him, right? He couldn’t exactly say ‘because I’m in love with you, and this is crossing that invisible line I set so I don’t fuck things up.’
He was screwed.
So, he lied.
“People will think that we’re… together if we show up in a couples costume.” Now that he said it out loud, it didn’t sound like a lie, and it didn’t feel like one either.
Yeah. Shit. People will think we’re together, and the night will be filled with Richie indirectly shooting me down all night.
He could see it now; Richie would explain to everyone how they’re not together because how could they be? He couldn’t love that mess of a human!
Shit. This quickly replaced his fear of crossing the invisible line. He doubted he could handle a whole evening filled with Richie explaining to strangers how they were not — and would never be — a couple.
Richie’s answer felt like a punch in the gut.
“Is there a problem with that? With people thinking we’re together?”
This was a sick joke, Eddie decided. Richie knows I’m in love with him and he’s being an ass about it.
Except, Richie wasn’t an ass — not about things that mattered, anyways. Sure, he would joke about fucking his mom and try to annoy him to death, but he wasn’t an asshole about important things.
“Yeah, of course that’s a problem.” His words may have come out harsher than he intended. Eddie shuffled awkwardly and looked anywhere that wasn’t at Richie. “We aren’t together. We’re… We’re friends.”
“Right. Friends.” Eddie’s gaze flicked to meet Richie’s from how deflated he sounded. It must’ve been his mind playing tricks on him though, because Richie was beaming and bouncing on the balls of his feet. “There you have it, Eds! We’re friends, so it doesn’t matter. This is just what friends do. I know you have, like, zero childhood friends and you don’t know this shit, but—”
“Fuck off,” Eddie said, but his voice didn’t have any venom in it. Richie was right — going in a couples costume together wasn’t a big deal for two friends. They were just friends. Bros. Pals. Buds. “Fine, you’re right, I’m being weird.” Because I’m totally fucking in love with you. “I’m going to change.”
Richie’s smile made warmth bubble up inside of him. “There ye have it, good ol’ chap! Time to get our spook on!”
.
Eddie was incredibly nervous, and he blamed the asshole beside him.
Richie looked good, which was extremely strange considering he was dressed in the Ash costume. But he also wore a grin so wide that it made Eddie’s cheeks hurt from just looking at it. His eyes were dancing with excitement. He looked so carefree in that moment, walking down the street with a skip in his step, and it made Eddie’s chest warm.
He was also nervous because he hadn’t gone to a party for a really long time, not since they were both freshmen and Richie was set on dragging Eddie everywhere he went. He would be the first to admit that he wasn’t in tune with current pop songs, and his heart lurched when he realized he might not know any song.
No, that was ridiculous. Richie blasted pop songs at two in the morning some days, so he would at least know those songs.
“Did you eat something before we left?” Eddie asked, breaking the silence of the night. Richie was a few paces ahead of him as they walked to the party, humming what sounded like Space Jam theme song. “Drinking on an empty stomach can be dangerous, you know, so...”
Richie turned around and continued to walk backwards. He was smiling softly and it made Eddie’s heart flip. It wasn’t often that Richie looked so open — so vulnerable. Usually he looked like the little asshole he was.
The change made Eddie feel completely out of his depth.
He loved it.
“You take such good care of me, my Eds Spagheds.” He blew a kiss. Eddie scowled.
“I just don’t want to be dragging you home drunk, fucker. Don’t mistake my words for concern. It’s purely selfish.”
“Right, of course.” Richie spun back around. “I did eat though. Wouldn’t want to have you carrying me home. We’d never make it up the block.”
“Shut up. Like you could carry me.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized his mistake. “No, Richie, don’t even—“
It was too late.
Richie was laughing like a maniac when he scooped Eddie off the ground and into his arms. Eddie clutched at the collar of his blue and white striped shirt to balance himself and Richie’s arms wound under his knees and around his back. All the air in his lungs came out in a whoosh and he could feel his blood rushing to his cheeks.
His knuckles were white from how tightly he was holding his collar. His heart was pounding so loudly that he was sure Richie could hear it.
Richie took off in a sprint and Eddie clung to him out of fear, all the while shouting for him to put him down.
Yet, he wanted the exact opposite of that.
He really didn’t want Richie to put him down.
He could feel each one of Richie’s breaths ghost along his face, and he could feel his palms digging into his back. His body was warm and he smelled distinctly of syrup, which was fitting, considering he once witnessed him eat a full box of Eggos in ten minutes.
From the angle he was in, it looked like he was glowing. The streetlights blurred around him. The sharpness of his jaw and the slope of his nose stole the breath from his lungs. It felt like his whole body was buzzing from being pressed against him.
He was gone.
So far gone.
.
As they approached the house the party was being held at, Richie set Eddie back down on his feet, a smug smile tugging at his lips.
“Easy peasy,” he said, sounding slightly breathless.
Eddie tried to keep his expression blank, but fuck, Richie made him want to smile.
The closer they got, the more nervous he became.
He pulled at the hem of his yellow sleeve. Maybe he shouldn’t have agreed to come with Richie tonight; it seemed like he was getting nervous about everything. He was nervous about the stupid couples costume, and he was nervous about how he acted with Richie earlier, and he was nervous about the music, and dancing, and—
“It’ll be fine, my Eds Spagheds.” Richie slung his arm around his shoulders as they made their was up the driveway to the house the party was being hosted at. “We look smashing. We’ll be the bells of the ball.”
“We do not look smashing. We’re dressed as characters from a children’s cartoon. Which brings me to my next point; why the fuck is Ash and Pikachu a couples costume? Isn’t Ash, like, Pikachu’s owner or some shit? And isn’t Pikachu and Pokémon, which is basically an animal? This seems entirely inappropriate for a couples costume, considering they’re not romantic and one is an animal, so—”
His thoughts died off when Richie leaned forward and planted a wet kiss to Eddie’s cheek. He jolted away and gave him a wild look because—
“What the fuck was that!?” Eddie swiped at the slobber left behind on his cheek while his heart raced. He wanted to shove Richie against the front door and kiss him dizzy.
“You’re just so cute, cute, cute! Look at you — dressed as lil’ ol’ Pikachu, ranting about how unsexy you are. Whew. Taking my breath away.”
Eddie scowled. Richie was a flirt — he knew that from day one — but he was laying it on thick right now, and he really wasn’t in the best mood to deal with that. All while Richie was flirting with him, he had to live with the knowledge that it was all play, and it hurt.
With that, they entered the house.
.
Eddie will admit; Halloween was pretty sweet.
(Which was an awesome pun, by the way, because his stomach was currently hurting from eating so many sweet pieces of candy.)
Beverly burst out laughing when she originally saw his and Richie’s costumes, commenting how cute they were.
“I’m not cute,” Eddie insisted. Richie attempted to boop him on the nose again, and he flipped him off.
Stan rolled his eyes.
Eddie spent the first part of the night dancing with their group of friends, and drinking shitty alcohol, and eating way too much candy.
While they danced, Richie hovered by his side. Every once and awhile, he’d lower his lips to his ear and whisper to him, each time causing goosebumps to erupt along his arms. None of the whispers were of importance; it was just Richie fucking around, talking about different costumes they saw, or bringing up one of their jokes, or doing a poor impersonation of a cowboy singing the lyrics of the song blaring from the speakers.
Without fail, Richie was able to get Eddie laughing. It didn’t take too long for Eddie to feel more comfortable moving around the basement (“and yes, Richie, is moist, thank you very much”) and enjoying himself.
That was the thing about Richie. He was always able to bring Eddie out of his shell, encouraging him to be brave and be himself. His carefree attitude made Eddie want to be carefree too.
When the dance floor (basement) got too crowded, their little group moved to sit on a pair of couches on the (not moist) ground floor of the house. It was a tight squeeze, but all seven of them managed to fit on the furniture. Eddie wasn’t going to complain about the fact Richie was practically in his lap because, truth be told, being pressed against him wasn’t the worst thing in the world.
Richie had his arm draped around his shoulders and legs on his, squishing him into the armrest. As the night stretched on, he became louder, his jokes grew worse, and his mouth trashier. Eddie loved how his cheeks flushed red, and how his hands were clammy on his arm, and how he seemed to laugh more than talk.
When Bev started talking about an upcoming movie she wanted to see, Richie turned his full attention to him.
“What do you think, Eds? Having fun?”
Not wanting to give Richie the satisfaction of being right, he wrinkled his nose. “It’s alright, I guess.”
Richie saw through it easily. “Fuck off. You’re having the time of your life.”
“Fine. I’m having fun.”
“Ha. Fucking told you it would be fun!”
Eddie was about to shoot back at him, but a guy from his sociology class leaned over the couch and poked him in the shoulder, drawing his attention away from him. “Hey, Eddie, right? Candy?” He lifted a giant bowl of individually wrapped candies and chocolates.
He glanced in the bowl and tried to suppress a frown. The one thing he did hate about Halloween was the ungodly amounts of nutty chocolate everywhere. Of course, the one food he was allergic to had to be in every goddamn chocolate bar sold on this dumb holiday.
And, worst of all, was trying to figure out a way to explain to strangers that no, he didn’t want their candy and, no, it wasn’t because he was on a diet, and, no, it didn’t matter that they only had a little bit of nuts in them. Then, he’d spend the next ten minutes trying to educate them about allergies because they were confused, and it usually ended up with him fending off passive-aggressive comments from them.
People that didn’t know him seemed to love getting personally offended by his allergy.
Before Eddie could respond to the offered chocolate, Richie leaned forward.
“We’re more sophisticated than that, Chad.” Richie pushed the orange bowl away from the two of them. “We brought our own.” As if to demonstrate the fact they had a secret stash of chocolate, Richie pulled out a Kit Kat from his left pocket and waved it.
When Chad was out of ear-shot, Eddie turned to Richie. “But we didn’t bring our own.”
Richie unwrapped the chocolate bar and split it in two as he spoke. “Maybe you didn’t. Plus, that dude doesn’t need to know the real reason you don’t want to eat his precious chocolate.” He lifted half of the chocolate bar in offering. “You want?” Richie stuffed the chocolate bar between Eddie’s parted lips. The action felt extremely intimate and made Eddie flush. He hoped the darkness hid it. “People are always assholes about that shit, so I came prepared.”
Eddie’s heart felt like it had flipped a few times in his chest. Richie knew how uncomfortable it made him to explain his medical condition to completely random strangers, and managed to come up with an explanation to save him from that.
Fuck, he loved him.
“Aaaaaaand,” Richie drawled, patting his left pocket, “there’s a lot more where that came from. I’ll fend off any nut carrying assholes for you.”
Eddie’s expression softened. He felt overwhelmed with affection by that simple action.
“I— Uh— Thank you, Rich.”
“Anything for you, my lil’ Pikachu.”
.
Eddie wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but it felt like hours. His sides hurt from laughing so much. His head was a little fuzzy from the alcohol. He ate way too many half-melted Kit Kats from Richie’s pocket.
Eddie couldn’t take his eyes off of Richie. He was a very animated storyteller and managed to make any story hilarious, even if said story was about him.
“And I swear — I swear, guys — I never saw the lil’ shit run faster than in that moment. Fuck, I wish I would’ve got that on video and sent it to Guinness World Records or some shit. He probably broke the sound barrier.”
The other five Losers were in stitches around them, unable to form coherent sentences. Even Eddie could barely speak, and Richie was ripping into him.
“Hey, asshole, it was terrifying,” he argued. “I swear to god, that dog had rabies.”
“It was a Pomeranian, first off, and it had just finished a bowl of whipped cream that you gave it!”
“I didn’t give it whipped cream.”
“No?”
“No! My bowl filled with whipped cream merely fell to the ground, and I was too slow at picking it up.”
Somehow, Eddie’s version of the story made Bev laugh harder. Richie was barely keeping his laughs contained, and a goofy smile was stretched across his face.
“I’m going to get another drink.” Eddie pushed Richie’s legs off of him and stood up from the couch. As soon as he did, he missed the warmth that came with cramming beside him.
Richie hooked his ankle around his before he could leave and threw a Poké Ball at him. It bounced against his stomach and rolled to the floor. Before he could ask what the fuck he was doing, Richie gave him a shit-eating grin.
“Caught you! I told ya’ — I gotta catch ‘em all!”
It was a stupid joke, but it made Eddie grin.
Fuck this. Fuck his dumb feelings. Fuck Richie Tozier and his cute face and his stupid jokes.
Eddie turned and made a break for it before he accidentally said something stupid in response. The further away he moved from Richie, the better. He needed time to refocus, and the drink table was his salvation.
Except, it wasn’t.
He was in the middle of pouring himself a glass of orange juice (which was definitely only at the party for mixing purposes) when a girl he didn’t know approached him.
“You two are cute, by the way!”
He barely heard her over the roaring music.
“What?”
When Eddie did make out what she was saying, he almost wished he couldn’t.
“You and your Ash! You two make a cute couple!”
Oh.
Oh, shit.
Oh, fuck.
Abort mission. Abort mission.
Eddie’s face felt exactly how it did after spending a whole day in the sun without sunblock. He was burning and—
Fuck!!! He knew this would happen!!!!!!
“Oh, uh, well—” He stumbled over his words, suddenly too shocked to make a full sentence. “We’re actually not dating — Ash and I.” He pointed to his yellow chest. “I know. Confusing! Right!?” His laughter was forced because dammit, it felt like he could explode from embarrassment.
(Not because someone mistook him for dating Richie, because, damn, that was the dream, but because he wanted to be dating Richie and now had to explain how he wasn’t. It was all too close to the feeling category for it not to be embarrassing.)
Eddie continued to speak. “We’re just wearing a couples costume because this is all we had. We’re not really together. He’s, uh… Well, he’s the Ash to my Pikachu… because they’re not romantic partners… because one’s an animal… and they’re fictional.”
The girl raised her eyebrow and took a long sip of her drink. Finally, she said, “well, you could’ve fooled me.”
What the fuck did that mean?!
By the time he made it back to the couch, he was still thinking about it.
His stomach was twisting because that random girl’s words could only mean one thing; he, Eddie Kaspbrak, was terrible at pretending not to love Richie Tozier.
It hit him like a punch to the gut.
He was too obvious with his feelings. He was flirting too much, smiling too hard, laughing too easily. If some random girl was convinced they were dating because of how big of a crush Eddie had on Richie, then he was fucked.
He sunk into the couch, his jaw slack and hands shaking. He needed to get a grip — on his response now, but also his massive crush on his roommate.
Within three seconds flat, Eddie came up with a set of rules to get him through this evening.
1) Don’t look at Richie.
2) Don’t think about how nice it is to have his arm around your shoulders.
3) Avoid physical contact at all costs.
4) Don’t laugh at any of his stupid jokes.
5) Insult him!!! Insult him to throw him off the scent!!!
It was a solid plan.
It lasted for approximately five minutes.
Richie was telling the story of the time he nearly got a concussion from trying to kill a spider in the shower, and it was getting harder and harder not to laugh, especially when he pulled out his silly voices.
Rule number 4! Rule number 4!
Richie laughed at his own joke and threw his head back from the force of it. Richie laughing was always endearing to Eddie; his whole body seemingly was thrown into it. His head would fly back, and his arms would wrap around his torso, and his knees would pull closer to his chest the slightest bit.
The corners of Eddie’s lips quirked up. His laugh was infectious — and that was the only infectious thing Eddie welcomed into his life.
Even after he finished laughing, Richie kept his head thrown back, a smile of sheer joy on his stupid face. The conversation continued on without them, moving to talk about Stan’s half-burned lab report from a Bunsen burner accident. Richie rolled his neck, shifting so his cheek was pressed against Eddie’s shoulder.
And there went rule number 3.
“You okay?” he asked, his voice softer than it was moments before. The intensity in his gaze made Eddie’s mouth run dry. “You seem… off.”
“I’m fine.” He hoped his smile didn’t look as forced as it felt. “Don’t worry about it.”
“We can go if you want?” Richie offered. “I think it’s passed your wittle bedtime.”
Eddie rolled his eyes, but couldn’t fight the smirk. Before he could respond, he remembered rule number 5.
Insult the shit out of him.
“The only thing ‘wittle’ between us is your dick.”
Yeah, what the fuck was that?
As soon as the words left his mouth, Eddie realized his grave mistake.
Richie’s eyes had widened and his head lifted off his shoulder, as if, he too, realized how massive of a mistake Eddie just made.
Eddie tried to backtrack.
“Not that your dick is between us.” Fuck, nope, that wasn’t the right thing to say. “Or little.” Nope, that wasn’t the right thing to say either. “But, I mean, it’s not like I’ve seen it because— Fuck. Never mind.” He admitted defeat and buried his face in his hands.
It took approximately three seconds for Richie to break the tension and burst out laughing.
“Jesus, Eds, how much have you had to drink?!”
Clearly, not enough.
.
After Eddie tried to drown himself in an ungodly amount of Kit Kats from Richie’s pocket, his resolve strengthened.
He would not fuck up anymore tonight! Richie was a bro-only zone. He was his best friend and roommate — nothing more! Richie + rules = success.
He wouldn’t laugh at his jokes. He wasn’t going to lean into his touches. He wasn’t going to smile at him like he hung the stars. He wasn’t going to—
It all went out the window when Richie wrapped his arms around Eddie’s middle and leaned into him.
“What the fuck, Richard?” His tone may have been harsher than he intended.
“I caught you,” he said, his voice muffled against his shoulder. “I threw a Poké Ball at you. You’re mine now. It’s the rules.”
“You already used the Poké Ball joke on me earlier, smart ass.”
Still, he made no move to push Richie off his shoulder. Maybe he could let rule number 3 slide. Just this once.
He couldn’t pull his gaze away from Richie’s face, either. He really loved him like this; soft, touchy, and carefree.
(Then again, he also loved the boy who earned the nickname Trashmouth, and picked fights he knew he couldn’t win, and swung bats at bullies.)
(He loved the fiery Richie, and the annoying Richie, and the stressed Richie, and the terrified Richie.)
(He loved his terrible sense of direction, and his late night dancing, and his ability to stub his toe on every piece of furniture they owned.)
(He loved him for his emotions, and for his heart, and yes even for his terrible jokes.)
(He loved Richie.)
(All of Richie.)
(Every Richie.)
Eddie’s jaw clenched and he shifted an inch away from Richie, his emotions suddenly hitting him so hard that it hurt.
The plan!!!! Remember the fucking plan!!!!!
“Like what you see?” Richie wiggled his eyebrows. “I know I’m pretty, but no need to stare, Eds.” Eddie jolted away from him and felt his heart lodge into his throat.
Richie caught him staring at him.
Fuck. Abort! Abort!
“Yeah, you’re pretty. Pretty fucking annoying.”
Richie grinned. “There he is! I was afraid my wittle dick scared you off.”
Eddie wanted to fade into the darkness.
“I thought we both agreed never to speak of that again.”
“I did no such thing.”
.
It happened again.
No, not the dick thing.
The ‘you’re a cute couple’ thing.
It was after the majority of the group went home, leaving Beverly, Ben, Richie, and Eddie to occupy a single couch. Why half the remaining group didn’t spread to the second couch was beyond him.
Someone he didn’t know slid into the couch opposite of them and launched into an in-depth conversation with Richie surrounding accuracy of historical events portrayed in some sort of video game.
Eddie couldn’t bring himself to even pretend to pay attention to what they were saying. All he could do was watch how Richie’s eyes lit up as he spoke, and how his lips would twist with each word, and how his nose wrinkled as he spoke, and how his gaze carried an intensity that made his heart pound, and—
“When did you two start dating?”
Eddie jolted away from Richie, putting as much space between them as possible (which, granted, wasn’t much considering they were trapped on this couch with Beverly and Ben).
“What?!” Eddie said quickly, his eyes wide and heart racing. “No. No, we’re not dating. We’re not together. Nope, no way.”
He never understood how his palms got so sweaty so quickly in these situations. He rubbed them on the yellow fabric along his legs vigorously.
“My sweet Eds,” Richie cooed as he leaned closer to him, his voice mockingly sweet.
Eddie wasn’t having it. He batted Richie’s face away from his own and scowled.
“No. We’re not dating.”
Richie pouted. “Is it because of my wittle dick—”
“I will punch you,” Eddie warned.
“But I wanna make you my luvah, Eds. My Eds Spagheds.” He turned to his friend. “Don’t listen to him, Johnathan. Eddie and I are very much together, confirmed by this awesome couples costume we are wearing.”
Eddie scowled and shoved Richie onto Beverly’s lap. “Fuck off, Richard.”
“I’m tellin’ it how it is! We’re two peas in a pod!”
The friend on the opposite couch gave them a wary smile. “Good, because, I mean, you two are practically dripping with sexual tension, and I was getting a little worried that I crossed a line and mentioned something I shouldn’t have, but I assumed it was fine because you’re wearing a couples costume for fuck sake, and—”
“No!” Eddie sat as straight as he could manage it. His heart was pounding in his chest. His cheeks felt like they were on fire. Because fuck you, Johnathan, you did mention something you shouldn’t have!!!! “Richie is fucking with you. We aren’t together, or lovers, or whatever other shit he said. We’re just friends. That’s all we are, all we have been, and all we ever will be.” To really drive home the point, he stuck his nose in the air. “Thank god! I mean, does anyone ever see me dating that!?”
Finally sticking to the plan! Eddie thought triumphantly. Now they really won’t think I’m into Richie. Ha! I wi— Wait, why the fuck is Richie running out of the room?
Richie had pushed off of the couch and took off towards the backdoor without another word. While Eddie couldn’t see his face, he knew exactly what he was feeling from a single glance at him. Tense body, shaking shoulders, uncharacteristically silent—
He was mad. Or upset. Or both.
“Wait, where’s Richie going?” He turned to Beverly, who was staring at him with parted lips. “What happened?”
“I love you, Eddie, but sometimes you’re such a dumbass.”
Eddie quickly ran through what he said moments before and immediately realized his mistake. In his rush to throw everyone off his scent, he insulted Richie.
“Oh, fuck.”
Eddie was quick to follow Richie outside. It was colder out now than before and the only light cast on the street came from a dimly lit street lamp. He caught sight of him across the street, already starting to make the journey back home.
Eddie wanted to hit his head against the nearest brick wall. He was an idiot.
“Richie!” he called, jogging after him. The other man didn’t turn when he called his name. Hell, he didn’t even flinch! Eddie pumped his legs faster. “Richie, wait up. Rich! Richie!” He finally caught up with him, but hovered a few paces away. “Where are you going? What happened?”
He very well knew what happened, but those were the first words out of his mouth.
“Not now, Eddie. I’m going home. I’ll talk to you later.” He didn’t turn to look at him.
Eddie was terrified — he doubted he had ever been more terrified than in that moment. Seeing Richie walking away from him, clearly hurt, scared him.
“Richie, I’m sorry.” He reached forward and caught hold of his elbow. Richie jolted it out of his grasp, making hurt flare up in Eddie’s chest. “I didn’t mean to insult you, I just—” He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’m sure anyone would love to date you.”
Just saying those words out loud made Eddie’s stomach role. Not anyone. Him. He wanted to be dating him.
Finally, Richie stopped walking. He spun around to face Eddie, his face screwed up with emotions. Eddie could see anger in there — it was the way his shoulders were hunched together and his fists closed at his sides — but he could see hurt too. Definitely hurt.
“Do you really think I’m upset because I thought you were implying I was undateable?” His voice was rough and thick with emotion. Eddie’s chest felt like it was going to cave in.
Richie was holding back tears.
“I— What? I mean… Of course? Why else are you upset about?”
Richie opened and closed his mouth several times, but no words followed. Eddie shifted back and forth on his feet, waiting for the shoe to drop.
Finally, he spoke. He sounded so tired and so done. “You know what? Never mind, Eddie. That’s why I’m upset. Of course I’m upset because I’m undateable! Not because of any other reason. You’re so right.”
Eddie narrowed his eyes. “I’m not stupid, Richard, and can smell your sarcasm.” That didn’t make the most sense, but neither one of them were in the mood to point that out. “I want to make up for what I said, but I can’t if you won’t tell me! If it isn’t because I insulted you, then… what? What’s wrong?”
“‘We’re just friends. That’s all we are, all we have been, and all we ever will be,’” Richie said, throwing Eddie’s earlier words right back in his face. Eddie had to suppress a flinch hearing them come from Richie’s mouth.
They hurt.
He swallowed thickly. “Well, it’s the truth, isn’t it? We’re… We’re just friends.”
Richie rubbed the bridge of his nose and tilted his head to glance at the night sky. After a long moment, he spoke. “I know. You love reminding me of that fact.” He sighed and locked eyes with Eddie. “It’s okay. I’m just being… me. Go back in and have fun.”
“You’re fucking kidding,” he said hotly. “I’m not leaving you when you’re clearly upset, and especially not for a Halloween party.” He stepped closer. “I care about you, Rich, and I want to help. I’m sorry that I upset you, and I really want to—”
“I love you.” The words froze Eddie to the ground. Richie’s eyes widened, like he, too, was surprised by them. “I— Fuck. Forget it.” He shook his head. “You know what? No! I said it. I mean it. I love you, Eddie. I’m in love with you. I love you so much that it hurts, and I know that’s ridiculous, but it’s true. And… And I get it, okay? I know you’re not interested. I know we’re just friends — you don’t need to remind me every five minutes, by the way, — but I’m so in love with you, Eddie. And—”
“Wait, hold the fuck up.” Eddie held his hand up, palm towards Richie. His fingers were shaking. He was sure his heart was about to give out from how fast it was racing. His mouth was inexplicably dry. “You— You love me?”
Richie’s eyes were wide. “Uhm… I— I—”
Eddie couldn’t tell anyone where the confidence came from, but he stepped forward, closing the distance between the two of them. The air left his lungs. He struggled to find the words, but he decided he didn’t really need words for this moment. And, finally—
He surged forward, capturing Richie’s lips with his own. The kiss was short and shallow — it was more of a brush of the lips than a kiss, if he was being honest — but it made his head spin.
Eddie pulled away, his eyes wide and his breath coming out in small pants. His hands were clutching at the collar of Richie’s blue and white shirt. His legs felt weak under him.
His eyes scanned Richie’s face, taking in the slight part to his lips, and the flush of his cheeks, and the wideness of his eyes. He was looking at Eddie in pure shock, and that was when he found his voice again.
“Richie, I love you, too.”
A long beat of silence passed between them before Richie’s head dipped down. Their lips connected for another kiss — this one much longer and sweeter than before. Richie’s hands cupped the side of Eddie’s face, cradling it gently. His ached from the amount of love and affection he had for the man in front of him.
The kiss stole all the air from Eddie’s lungs and all the thoughts from Eddie’s mind. When Richie pulled away, his lips were curled into a wide smile — a true, genuine smile that made his eyes crinkle and seemingly reached into Eddie’s chest and squeezed his heart.
He shook his head, his dark curls bobbing across his forehead. Richie gestured exuberantly towards the house they both ran from. “What the fuck was thaaaaaat!?”
Eddie stepped out of Richie’s grasp, his hands flying into his hair, panicking to hell. “Shit! I was trying to throw you off my trail! You know, like, try to be a dick to you so you don’t think I’m totally into you! Which I am, by the way — totally into you — like an embarrassing amount. And I just—”
“You, Eddie Kaspbrak, are a huge asshole and I love you for it.” Richie stepped forward wearing a silly grin. The hand that had been tenderly holding Eddie’s cheek booped Eddie on the nose.
“What the fuck, Rich?” He wrinkled his nose. Richie didn’t pay any mind to Eddie’s reaction — he pulled the shorter man into a crushing hug and rested his head on top of his.
“I caught you, Eds. You’re my lil’ Pikachu.”
Eddie scowled. “You’re a loser. I’m in love with a loser.”
Summary: Finally, it was Richie and Eddie's turn, and Eddie wrapped his hands around Richie's arm as they entered. Richie felt himself blush, grateful that no one could see him in the darkness.
Or: The losers go to a haunted house, despite Eddie’s protests.
Eddie had made it very clear that he did not want to go. He’d always said that scary movies and haunted houses were for people that hadn’t actually lived through those things in real life. Richie was always quick to point out that they’d never actually been in a haunted house, just a clown infested one. Eddie was always quick to tell him to fuck off.
But everyone had known that Eddie would come anyway, because that’s what he did, he complained, but he was always there for his friends. That was why he was standing outside Derry’s scariest haunted house, looking like he wanted to be absolutely anywhere else. Richie looked to his friend, he looked nervous, his hand was absently feeling around in his pocket as he looked at the entrance (Richie noticed that he did that when he was anxious, he was pretty sure he was feeling for an inhaler that hadn’t been there in years).
“You don’t actually have to do this,” Ben offered, because he was tooth-achingly sweet. “I can stay back with you if you want.”
“I’m fine,” Eddie shook his head, “It’s just a stupid haunted house, it’s all fake.”
“Exaaactly,” Richie purred, throwing his arm around Eddie. “Besides Eddie Spaghetti, if you get too scared, just remember you have a big strong man next to you to protect you.”
Eddie just rolled his eyes, “You’re right, Richie, I probably should stay next to Mike,” Eddie shrugged out from under the taller boy’s weight and took a step towards Mike.
Mike grinned and put his arm around Eddie, mirroring what Richie had just been doing. “Don’t worry Eddie, I’ll protect you.”
Richie frowned, throwing his hand dramatically over his heart, “Ouch Eddie, that hurts, I really thought that you loved me. Does that make you a homewrecker Mikey?”
Mike chuckled.
Stan groaned, “So, are we actually going to in? Or are we just going to stand around and listen to Richie be an idiot all night?”
“Not you too, Stan the Man,” Richie feigned offense, but nonetheless he led the way to the entrance. There was a line, and Richie could feel the nerves of the rest of the group build with each passing moment.
They’d generally avoided scary things since Pennywise, almost as if their fear might single handedly bring him back and start the whole thing over again. But it had been two whole years since they’d left Neibolt, and (at least in Richies case) they were just really fucking ready to move on.
Eddie didn’t look so convinced.
At the front of the line, the bored looking teenager at the entrance split them up into groups.
“Maximum groups of three,” He explained, eyeing them. “And we’ll space them out.”
They decided that Ben and Bev would go together, then Stan, Bill, and Mike, then Richie and Eddie. Because that’s always how it worked, they were Richie and Eddie, they stuck together.
Ben and Bev went in, sinking into the dark building. Richie noticed their hands clasped together and tried not to imagine how Eddie’s hand would feel in his.
Next went Stan, Mike, and Bill, none of them looking particularly bothered.
Finally, it was Richie and Eddie’s turn, and Eddie wrapped his hands around Richie’s arm as they entered. Richie felt himself blush, grateful that no one could see him in the darkness.
Richie wasn’t scared, he figured that since he’d lived through multiple actual murderous clown attacks, some stupid props and guys in costumes couldn’t scare him.
Eddie, on the other hand jumped at every movement, when a guy in a werewolf costume jumped out at them from a doorway they’d been about to enter Eddie gripped his arm so hard it actually hurt (not that Richie would tell Eddie that).
“This was such a stupid idea,” Eddie muttered, they were in the middle of a room set up to resemble a hospital, and Richie noticed that this one bothered Eddie the most. There were hospital beds with dummies on them, fake blood bags, and jars full of mysterious substances. “This place probably isn’t even clean, we could contract some kind of horrific disease here.”
“There are no horrific diseases here, Eds,” Richie said, his voice low, “People go through these all the time.”
“That doesn’t mean that-“ He was cut off by one of the fake patients leaning up in bed, groaning and making a fake grab at them. Eddie hurried them to the next room, his eyes wide.
“You good Eddie?” Richie asked, taking his eyes momentarily off the path ahead to look down at the other boy.
Eddie shook his head, “I’m fucking great. I’m having the time of my life in a dirty old house that we for some reason entered for the sole reason of being scared.”
Richie chuckled, he took it as a good sign that Eddie wasn’t struggling for breath.
He was still looking down at Eddie, a fond smile on his face, when something jumped out in front of them. They both jumped back immediately, and Richie looked up to see a clown,
He immediately froze, his heart in his throat. The clown didn’t even look anything like Pennywise. He was one of those with a big red nose and a white face. They got the teeth down though, they were razor sharp, and fake blood dripped from his mouth. Richie was back in Neibolt in an instant, Pennywise advancing on him and Eddie, Eddie’s arm sitting limp in his lap. Richie had thought that they were going to die, he’d been absolutely certain, and all he’d wanted was for Eddie to look at him. Not at the fucking clown. He hadn’t wanted Eddie to feel the same terror he was, he’d thought that maybe he could distract him from it for just a moment.
He could feel Eddie grab his arm, and he thought that he was saying something, but he couldn’t hear it over the ringing in his ears.
—-
The clown came out of nowhere, one minute Richie was looking down at him with that smile, and Eddie was feeling like maybe this wasn’t so bad, and the next moment a fucking clown was jumping in front of him and fuck, why did it have to be a clown?
He felt Richie freeze up next to him, his breath catching. Eddie looked up to see that he was just staring at the clown, eyes wide.
“Richie?” Eddie asked, grabbing Richie’s arm. His hand came up to grab Eddie’s wrist, but he still wasn’t looking at him.”Rich? Are you okay?”
The clown lunged for Richie, grinning and bearing his sharp teeth. Richie stumbled backwards, taking Eddie with him, and the clown only moved toward them again.
“Back off asshole!” Eddie said, pushing down the fear seizing his body. “He’s fucking scared!”
The guy dropped the act, rolling his eyes and moving past them, “Jesus,” He muttered.
Richie still wasn’t moving, his breathing was only getting faster. His eyes were darting around the room.
“Rich,” Eddie said, pulling Richie by the arm to the side of the room. He could already hear people approaching behind him, there was a door off the main path and when Eddie pulled Richie towards it he didn’t resist.
It looked like they were in a closet, the room wasn’t decorated like the rest of the house, it had cleaning supplies and it was lit by one dim light bulb hanging from the ceiling.
Richie slid immediately to the floor, his back against the wall.
“Richie, are you okay?” Eddie asked, bending down to kneel in front of him. His mind was pulling up everything he knew about panic attacks, he felt his own chest constricting just thinking about it, but he kept it under control.
Richie was staring at him, his eyes searching his face. His chest rising and falling far too fast.
“You need to breathe, Rich, okay?” Richie had said that very thing to Eddie many times before, had walked him through his asthma attacks more times than he could count.
Eddie took a deep exaggerated breath in, and then out. “Breathe, okay? He’s not-we’re safe. He’s dead.”
Richie took a deep, slow, breath. In then out. He looked a little better, his eyes settled on Eddie’s, and he continued to take long slow breaths.
“Are you okay?” Eddie asked, he put his hands on Richie’s shoulders, this kind of stuff always grounded him when he was going through an attack. Richie’s hands on his arms, a comforting and familiar weight when the world was closing in on him.
Richie nodded, he seemed now like he was coming out of haze. He blinked, “I’m alright, it was just, stupid,” He looked down at his knees, still breathing deeply.
“It wasn’t stupid,” Eddie said immediately. “You’ve helped me through so many panic attacks and you’ve never thought they were stupid before,” He said quietly.
“That’s different,” Richie said, shaking his head, “That’s like, medical. I was just scared,” He was still as white as a ghost, but some of the color had slowly started returning to his face.
“That’s what a panic attack is, dipshit,” Eddie said, but there was no bite to the words, they came out far more gentle than Eddie had anticipated.
Richie didn’t look fully convinced, “It was just...” He paused, swallowing thickly ”Suddenly I was back there, and he was coming towards us. And I really fucking thought that we were going to die,” He took a deep breath in.
“I thought we were going to die too,” Eddie said.
“You wanna know what’s stupid?” Richie asked, smiling weakly at Eddie over his knees. “I thought I could like distract you, I just wanted you to look at me so that you didn’t die looking at that fucking clown. I don’t know, like I could distract you from an advancing monster just by holding onto your face tightly enough.”
Eddie swallowed thickly, he remembered that. The sharp pain in his arm, Bill by his side, Pennywise advancing on them, his fingers growing and sharpening into claws. Most of all, Richie, grabbing his face, not letting it go. Eddie, look at me, don’t look at him. Eddie. And if he hadn’t thought they’d been about to die, Eddie would have probably shoved him away, and told Richie to keep his grubby hands to himself, just to distract from the way his stomach flipped whenever Richie got too close. “Not stupid, I think it helped.”
There was something in the air now, and they were just sat there, looking at each other. And Eddie probably should have stood up, and pulled Richie out of there and out of that stupid haunted house, where they could meet back up with the other losers and pretend like he hadn’t just thought about kissing Richie in a disgusting little storage closet. But he didn’t, instead he just leaned in, slightly, and he knew he didn’t imagine it when Richie leaned in too.
Eddie’s breath caught in his chest when Richie closed the distance between their lips. And it was nothing like he’d ever imagined it (and he had imagined it, even if he hadn’t realized he was thinking about it). He’d never thought it would be in a tiny claustrophobic closet in shitty haunted house. But it was also everything he’d ever imagined because it was Richie, and his lips were softer than Eddie imagined and he was putting a hand on Eddie’s cheek.
Eddie pulled back, blinking at the other boy.
Richie looked at him nervously, “Was that-?”
Eddie knew how that question was going to finish. “Yeah, that was okay. That was, great.”
Richie grinned, “I thought you might say so, I’ve only ever gotten glowing reviews from your mom.”
“I cannot believe you just said that,” Eddie said, but he was still smiling, giddy and happy and feeling more than a little brave. “Can you ever not ruin a moment?”
Richie just kissed him again.
Eddie ran his hands through Richie’s hair, leaning forward on his knees.
This time it was Richie that pulled back, “Wow Eds,” He said, “Who knew you had a fear fetish? Am I going to have to pretend to be a damsel in distress every night?”
“God, this was a mistake,” Eddie said, standing up on shaky legs. He held his hand down to pull Richie up, who immediately wrapped his arms around the smaller boy.
When they were both sure that they could handle it, they reentered the haunted house. Eddie kept his hand firmly locked into Richie’s, and it was only when they reached the exit that he reluctantly released Richie’s hand.
The others were waiting outside for them, and if they noticed how long they’d spent in there, the way Richie and Eddie stayed a little closer to each other than usual, or their secret smiles and whispers, they didn’t say anything. Eddie was grateful for it.
A/N : so this is a thing! this was my first content exchange and i had a really fun time writing this, this is my first finished fic for the it fandom and im really excited to gift this to molly. not exactly what u asked for but i hope u like it nonetheless!
Summary: Richie felt like it should have been more embarrassing, admitting how much he loved Eddie, but it also seemed like just another truth of the world. The sky was blue, the grass was green, there was a killer clown living in the Derry sewer system, and Richie loved Eddie. That startling clarity, that hyperaware sense of self did not, however, make it any easier for anyone involved.
Eddie slapped at his arm.
Once class was over, the two started their conversation up again.
“But I’m serious, Eduardo, I can’t waste Halloween. This is our last one before high school and I just wanna spend it with my,” Richie choked, his eyes flashing to Eddie. “You,” he finished lamely as they loaded his books into Eddie’s locker.
“It’s this week, right? I’ll have to come up with something to tell my mom, but I don’t see why we can’t,” Eddie shrugged, missing the flash of excitement on Richie’s face when he closed the door and spun the lock a few times.
The day of Halloween, Richie was pretty fuckin’ excited for Eddie to come over. He had a sheet hanging from the top bunk of his bed over the bottom, the easiest fort imaginable and he was standing by it, Eddie, it’s perfect. Along with that, Richie had also dug out a few strings of Christmas lights to hang up around the bottom bed, knowing they - the two crybabies that they were - would need some light source if a movie had even the slightest jumpscare.
Speaking of movies, Richie was in awe of the great horror movies he’d picked out for the evening. Amidst the horror classics like Poltergeist and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, there were a few silly movies like Beetlejuice and The Man with Two Brains. Not a shabby collection, if Richie said so himself, because he had to beg his older sister to rent them from Blockbuster. He even went so far as to get Eddie’s favorite candies, spending so much on Twizzlers and black licorice that he mentioned buying stock to his parents when they asked.
But, let’s be honest, no matter just how prepared Richie felt in the literal sense, he was still (mentally) shitting his fucking pants because Eddie fuckin’ Kaspbrak was coming to watch movies and hopefully stay the night and Richie was in panic mode, ladies, this is not a drill.
See, if someone had told Richie he’d realize one sweaty summer afternoon at the end of June that he had a massive crush on aforementioned Loser, he’d have laughed and made a few ‘your mom’ jokes to deflect, and only at three in the morning would he be willing to analyze every interaction he’s ever had with Eddie ever. That was just a whole can of worms that could not be dealt with.
But it was not June anymore, it’s October and he loved his best friend with every fiber of his being. That was a can of worms that had been opened and dealt with, and yeah, it was super fucking scary to be gay in Derry, but how could the way he felt about Eddie be wrong?
Richie felt like it should have been more embarrassing, admitting how much he loved Eddie, but it also felt like just another truth of the world. The sky was blue, the grass was green, there was a killer clown living in the Derry sewer system, and Richie loved Eddie. That startling clarity, that hyperaware sense of self did not, however, make it any easier for anyone involved.
Because of course Richie was going to be a little shit to Eddie once he realized he was well and truly ass over tits for the kid, and he deliberately made their interactions so much more annoying than Eddie could ever expect. Now it’s not like he wanted his little hypochondriac darling to hate him, Richie more so just wanted to make sure all of Eddie’s attention was on Richie at all times.
In Richie’s own defence, the voice in his head was always trying to make sure Eddie was always looking at him. It honestly and truthfully felt like if his eyes weren’t on Richie for even a second, that Trashmouth himself would cease to exist.
Okay, so maybe he was dramatic and over exaggerating and also completely off track, but whatever. It was Halloween and he was freaking out.
“It’s just Eddie,” Richie said when his alarm went off.
“It’s just a friendly hang out,” he thought as he rode his bike to school alongside Eddie.
“Totally platonic,” when Eddie had whacked his arm and leaned against Richie after the latter delivered a wicked punchline.
“Nothing to read into,” as Eddie kept glancing over to him in Physics, his doe eyes shining under the flickering fluorescent lights.
(Towards the end of the day, Richie had almost stopped believing himself when Eddie kept brushing his shoulder against Richie’s in the library. (But then Bowers walked in and Eddie disappeared down a random row of books.))
It wasn’t until after school and the two were walking their bikes home side by side that Richie let himself steal glances, and his eyes followed the sweat that beaded at Eddie’s forehead and slowly slipped down his cheek before Eddie swiped it away. He turned away quickly when his friend looked over at him and grinned.
“So what movies did you get? If I have to watch Charlie fucking Brown’s Halloween special again I’m gonna fuckin’ lose it, Rich,” Eddie babbled, waving his free hand around and bumping into Richie every so often.
“I had to say we have a project in English that’s due tomorrow like I said earlier, so we might have to tell her details about this fake project on Saturday when you come over. You’re still coming, right? I finished our hats and you still have those joke mustaches, right? We’ll be the best Mario and Luigi,” he finished, somehow managing to not be out of breath.
Richie grinned and took his chance.
“Oh I’ll be coming alright, Eds, coming ten inches deep in your mom!” and then he was hopping up onto his bike, and Richie started pedaling as fast as his chicken legs can.
“Richie, you motherfucker!”
“That’s the point, Spaghetti,” Richie called back as he slowed to wait for Eddie by a stop sign, and his friend’s shorter (I’m still growing, asshole!) legs worked hard to get him to Richie.
“You’re such a dick, you know that? What is with you, you stupid fuck, we can’t even have a nice, civil conversation without you pissing all over it with your nasty jokes,” Eddie had a flush high in his freckled cheeks, and his mouth ran a mile a minute while he insulted Richie as much as he could.
“Eddie, my sweet, I have to keep you on your toes somehow,” he winked, seeing Eddie’s flush travel down his neck and under his polo; a place Richie couldn’t see.
He gulped and looked away, not seeing the way Eddie tracked the beginnings of an adam’s apple on Richie’s throat move up and down. The two stood at the stop sign, stuck in the moment, air sticky with words they couldn’t stay.
A passing car with the driver laying on their horn broke the moment, the two boys starting to pedal towards Richie’s house in silence. Eddie tried to speak, but his voice cracked and he turned even redder. He cleared his throat and tried again.
"I can't believe you wore my worst fear as a costume."
"Call it exposure therapy. I can't believe you're actually a sheet ghost.
"It's a classic! Nobody does it, which makes it genius."
"Genius, Richie? I don't thi--"
"Plus there's lots of room under here," he winks, even though Eddie can't see it.
Richie flings the sheet over Eddie's confused face, startling a squeak out of him.
"It reeks under here."
"Yeah, I had your mom under here earlier," he laughs, grabbing the sides of Eddie's face and planting a kiss on his forehead before he can smack him.
He does afterwards anyways, touching noses and laughing.
"Happy Halloween, Eds," Richie says, reaching into Eddie's pillowcase of candy.
Summary: maize (noun): corn
maze (noun): a network of paths designed as a puzzle through which one has to find a wayEddie gets lost in a corn maze and Richie goes to find him.
Richie took in the scene around him. The leaves blowing across the grass, his friends bundled up in coats, the Halloween decorations surrounding them, the rickety old sign reading “Derry Fall Festival”. His eyes lingered for more than a few seconds on Eddie, who had never been a fan of the cold, and his unnecessarily thick scarf, giant coat, and adorable beanie plopped on his head. His face was flushed from the weather, giving him a red nose. October in Maine was never kind to them, bringing the freezing temperatures before Halloween even arrived.
“I don’t know about you guys, but that rope swing over there is calling my name.” Richie interrupted whatever conversation his friends were having in favor of pointing over to rope strung up by some giant hay bales.
“You mean the one with the children surrounding it?” Mike asked.
“Hell yeah, I’m bigger than them, I’ll push them out of the way.” Richie responded like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “So, who’s gonna join me?”
“Me, duh.” Beverly made her way over to him, lightly shoving his shoulder. “I’ll race ya.”
A giant grin made its way onto Richie’s face. “You’re on.”
The two of them ran across the field, dodging all of the other guests with ridiculous spins and jumps. At one point, Richie nearly ran into a woman holding her baby, allowing Bev to race passed him with a dramatic battle cry.
“Ben,” Stan began as the rest of them walked over to the swing. “Tell me again how someone as chaotic as Bev managed to snag you?”
A flush appeared on Ben’s face that had nothing to do with the cold. He shrugged. “Love is weird, I guess.”
Eddie looped his arm around Ben’s and smiled. “I think it’s sweet.”
“Of course, you do.” Bill rolled his eyes with a laugh.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Eddie’s tone changing instantaneously to snap defensively.
Mike snorted. “It’s just that you find…chaos attractive.”
“What do you mean?” Eddie stopped in his tracks, pulling Ben to a stop as well. “I do not.”
“It’s nothing, Eddie.” He smiled brightly. “Forget it.”
Eddie glowered at him, scrunching up his face in annoyance. “Fine.”
Ben smiled brightly at him. “Don’t worry about it, they’re just joking.”
“Yeah, I know.” Eddie replied quietly, although he had sensed there was truth behind all of their words.
The five of them continued down to the rope swing, finding a spot to sit on top of a hay bale facing their two friends. Beverly and Richie took turns swinging from one side of the hay to the other, their swinging becoming increasingly more sporadic as they went, causing some of the children to leave in order to prevent getting knocked in the head.
Richie waved widely at Eddie when he noticed them sitting down. “Eds! Come on over!”
Eddie shook his head. “I’m good over here, dipshit!”
The grin on Richie’s face didn’t falter with Eddie’s words. “Suit yourself!”
“I’m joining them.” Bill got up suddenly, after Richie had made a hard fall onto the hay.
“Betraying us sane people?” Stan joked.
“You know that none of us are even a bit sane.” Bill laughed and ran off, yanking the rope from Richie’s hands.
The others watched with a fondness that only came from truly loving their friends with all their heart and soul, despite the absolute chaos, or “idiotic shit” as it was put by Eddie once, that they tended to get into. The key, they’d come to realize, is to stop getting embarrassed by Richie and Beverly, the ones who often started the chaos in the first place.
“I think we should do the corn maze.” Richie ran over after running away from a mother who seemed to think three teenagers had no business on a rope swing.
Stan’s head perked up. “That actually sounds like fun.”
“You sound shocked that I could have a good idea, Staniel.”
“But wait,” Bev said as her and Bill joined them. “We thought it would be a good idea to do the hard part. And, like, make it a race. See who can finish first?”
“Me being able to beat you guys at something while also being able to witness you getting unbelievably lost? I’m very much interested.” Stan stood up, looking at everyone expectantly.
“You know I’m directionally challenged.” Ben laughed. “I could get lost in my own neighborhood.”
“Which is why you’ll be sticking with me.” Bev got up on her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. “But all you other fuckers are on your own, every man for himself.”
The man at the front of the corn maze had told them that the hard portion could take anywhere from 45 minutes to a couple hours, all depending on how badly a person got lost. An hour and a half later, six of the seven friends stood at the exit, Bill the most recent to get out.
“At what point do you think we should worry about Eddie?” Mike asked.
“Bill just got back, I wouldn’t worry too much.” Stan shrugged.
“Bill got back 20 minutes ago.” Ben pointed out.
“Well, Eddie’s smart.” Stan replied.
“What? Did you murder him, Stan?” Richie attempted to jump up above the corn stalks to see into the maze, trying to get a glimpse of Eddie, but to no avail.
“Who’s gonna go run back in there? It took us an hour to get out, imagine trying to look for someone.” Stan pointed out and most of them made noises of agreements.
“I’m the one who finished first, in 45 minutes if you haven’t forgotten.” Richie replied and inched towards the entrance.
“Richie, you’ll get lost. And then we’ll have to call a search team for two people.” Mike said, taking Stan’s side.
“Betrayal, Mike, true betrayal.” Richie clutched at his heart. “But no one can stop me.”
Richie turned on his heels and ran into the maze, ignoring the sounds of protest coming from his friends behind him.
If he was being honest with himself, Richie didn’t know if he would run back into the corn for anyone other than Eddie. Seeing how long it would take for one of his friends to get out, or even having to call a search team of festival employees seemed like a great opportunity for entertainment. But, as always, Richie found himself unable to control himself when it came to Eddie. Bev would tell him it was because of his “cute little cruuuuush” (as she so eloquently put it), to which Richie couldn’t really deny it, but Eddie was also his best friend and he knew he would probably begin to get a little panicked if he was stuck in the corn when the sun began to go down.
Therefore, Richie ran full speed through the corn, not really taking into account with turns he was taking or which direction he was going (he figured if he found his way out once, he could do it again without a second thought).
Eddie considered himself pretty smart. But nearly two hours after entering the damned corn maze, going around in circles like a maniac, and then seeing Richie Tozier running towards him, he was beginning to think he was losing brain cells by the minute.
“Spaghetti! I’m here to rescue you!” Richie outstretched his arms to wrap Eddie up in a hug.
“Fuck that nickname, Rich.” Eddie pushed the other boy off of him. “Are you lost, too?”
Richie scoffed. “Oh no, we all made our way out. I came back in to rescue you.”
“Are you serious?”
“That everyone got out? Yeah.” Richie then smiled triumphantly. “I got out in 45.”
Eddie let out a noise of disbelief. “No.”
“Yes. Who’s the smart bitch now?”
“Oh, fuck off, it’s confusing in here.” Eddie shoved him lightly and with a smile gracing his lips, but Richie made a show out of losing his balance.
“Hey, be nice to me or I’ll abandon you in here.”
Eddie sighed and gestured in front of him. “Alright, lead the way.”
Richie began leading them around the corn, taking turn after turn, nearly making Eddie dizzy at the speed he took them at. He knew that all the cornstalks looked the same, but after what seemed like several minutes, he felt as if he was beginning to recognize some of the stalks.
“You do know how to get out of here, right?” Eddie looked up at him.
Richie made a noise in his throat. “Uh, definitely.”
Eddie looked at him with wide eyes. “Are we fucking lost?”
“No!” Richie protested and then shrugged. “Maybe!”
“You told me you got out of here!”
“I did! I…I just forgot?”
Eddie looked up towards the sky and let out a loud groan. “We’re gonna die in here.”
“Lighten up, we’ll find our way out.”
“No, we’re gonna die.”
“Well in that case,” Richie slung an arm over Eddie’s shoulder, bringing him close. He leaned down to whisper in Eddie’s ear. “We might as well have some fun.”
“Shut up.” Eddie nudged Richie with his shoulder. “No one wants to do anything with your disgusting ass.”
“That’s not what your mom said last night when we were fucking in this corn field.” Richie made a crude gesture with his fingers to go along with his words.
“Richie!” Eddie screeched and shoved the other boy, harder than he did earlier, who lost his balance from the sheer force of his rage and fell back into the cornstalks.
“Fuck!” Richie yelled as he was engulfed by the plants, his body disappearing so only his feet stuck out onto the pathway.
Eddie giggled and kicked one of Richie’s feet softly. “Are you okay?”
“I’m dead, Eds.” Richie replied dramatically, swinging his feet around. “I’m one with the corn now. A child of the corn, if you will.”
“Oh, shut up. You need help getting up?”
“Didn’t you hear me? I live here, this is my home!”
Eddie scoffed. “Richie.”
“Fine, c’mere.” He stuck a hand out in front of him, his fingers barely making it out of the corn.
Eddie stepped forward, putting a leg on each side of Richie’s to brace himself. Leaning forward, he could vaguely make out Richie’s face amongst the stalks. He grabbed the outstretched hand, preparing to pull him up from the ground. Suddenly, he was instead pulled forward into the corn.
“Shit!” He screamed and fell harshly onto Richie’s body.
“Glad you could join me in the corn, Eds.” Richie grinned.
“You’re so fucking annoying.” Eddie shoved his chest, trying to get up. “Don’t call me that, help me get up.”
“Never.” Richie instead placed his hand on Eddie’s hips, pulling him hard down against his own body.
“Richie.” Eddie gasped and looked at him with wide eyes, suddenly aware of how much of their bodies were touching.
“What?”
Eddie swallowed hard. “Stop.”
“Stop what?” Richie grinned and rolled their bodies further into the corn, Eddie could feel the corn closing around them, and they were completely engulfed, the pathway no longer visible.
Eddie’s back hit the ground and he let out a brief “oof” as Richie landed on top of him as well.
“What are you doing?”
“We’re just rolling around in the corn, havin’ some fun.” Richie had gone down on his elbows, caging Eddie in.
Eddie took a sharp intake of breath as the other boy moved them, successfully putting all his body weight on Eddie, situated between his legs, to prevent him from getting up at all.
“Richie.” Eddie suddenly felt suffocated. “What are you doing?”
“I’m just messing around.” Richie must have sensed the seriousness in Eddie’s voice because his words came out softer than they had been all day.
“I -” Eddie tried to find words to say as he noticed how close they were, how they were breathing in each other’s breaths, and their bodies were flush against each other, how Richie was perfectly slotted between his legs in a way that caused Eddie to feel hot all over. “You’re always just messing around.”
“What?”
“Everything is a joke to you.”
Richie scrunched up his face in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“All these jokes, all the touching, you’re fucking on top of me, Richie, for god’s sake.” Eddie tried to squirm away, instead accidently bucking his hips up against Richie’s.
Richie let out sharp breath that sounded suspiciously like a moan and Eddie’s face tingled with heat despite the cold. “Don’t do that.” Richie said lowly.
“Let me up then.” He squirmed again.
“I swear to god, Eddie, stop.”
Eddie flailed his legs, trying to get up, but Richie had several inches on him and a bit of weight, making it a lost cause.
“Stop.” Richie growled and Eddie looked up to see Richie’s eyes had darkened, his pupils blown. “You’re not.”
“I’m not what?”
“A joke to me.”
“Rich…”
Richie took in Eddie’s face, the red of his cheeks, the wideness of his eyes, the way his lips were slightly parted as he whispered. Their bodies were still pressed against each other and maybe Richie didn’t think this whole thing completely through, but he wasn’t exactly known for thinking things through.
“Rich.” Eddie repeated.
This time, Richie let himself look directly at his lips, the way his tongue swiped out to wet them, a sheen left behind.
When asked about it later, neither of the two boys could accurately recall which one of them had moved in first. The only thing they knew is that suddenly their lips were pressed together and Eddie’s hands were in Richie’s hair, and his legs were crossed behind his back, bringing their bodies even closer than they ever thought they’d ever be, and their hearts were thumping widely loud inside their chests.
The corn poked their bodies uncomfortably, but they couldn’t be bothered to care, too caught up in each other to notice anything else. One particular movement from Richie’s hips caused Eddie to gasp, his mouth opening to allow the opportunity to deepen the kiss, their tongues rolling against each other. Eddie felt himself begin to sweat underneath his coat and scarf.
Their mouths separated to allow them to catch their breaths, Richie pressing kisses to the side of Eddie’s jaw, not being able to get any lower due to the thick scarf. He settled for pressing kisses everywhere on Eddie’s face, going from his jaw to his ear to his nose to his forehead. Eddie let out a sigh of content with each press of Richie’s lips.
“Eddie fucking Kaspbrak, you have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to do this.” Richie said, his voice slightly raspy, and leaned his forehead against Eddie’s.
“It’s not a joke?” Eddie whispered.
“Never.” Richie replied.
Eddie smiled. “I’ve wanted this for a long time, too.”
Their matching grins made kissing hard for the next minute. It was nothing more than pressing their mouths together, neither of them wanting to be apart for any longer. Their lips eventually relaxed again, slotting together as if they had been doing it their whole lives.
“Richie! Eddie!”
Voices boomed through the field and the boys had no choice but to separate, suddenly noticing the setting sun around them.
“Shit.” Richie muttered.
“Guys?” They could recognize Bev’s voice close to them.
“We’re right here!” Eddie yelled back.
“Where?”
“Uh…in the corn!” Richie responded. A light flashed in Richie’s face. “Fuck, Marsh, point that somewhere else.”
Bev spread the corn apart with her arms, looking into the dense plants. “Why the hell are you in there?”
“We fell?”
She looked at them with a glint in her eyes and smiled. “Sure.”
The two boys scrambled to get up, groaning as they occasionally kneed or elbowed one another, until they fell out in the maze pathway.
“We had to tell the employees and get a map, so I hope you’re embarrassed.” Bev crossed her arms and tsked.
“I guess my rescue mission was a fail.” Richie shrugged.
She took in their flushed faces and swollen lips, as well as Richie’s tousled hair. “I don’t think fail would be the word I would use.”
“Oh!” Richie wrapped an arm around Eddie and pulled him into his chest. Eddie pushed his head into the boy’s torso, hiding his face in embarrassment. “I did catch a nice Spaghetti.”
“Richie, shut up!”
“You have to be nice to me now, Eds, it’s law.”
Eddie peeked up from his spot against Richie’s chest to look up at him, both of their faces glowing bright red with matching blinding grins. Maybe getting lost had its perks.
Eddie was fucked. Eddie was truly fucked, and he didn’t want to think about it as he sat in the corner of the party sipping his blood-coloured drink. With every gulp the liquid clawed down his throat, a mix of sugar, cordial and a lot of alcohol. Normally he would be averse to drinking alcohol especially considering he had a curfew when he’d have to meet his mother, but right now he just needed a distraction.
A distraction from the man in the middle of the room, with the sides of his black-hair slicked back in a 50’s do, a blazer that showcased his wide shoulders matched with black slacks that elongated his already long legs and a pair of thick black rimmed glasses that framed his face. He looked like he walked out of a dream, to be more exact, he looked like he walked out of Eddie’s dream.
It wasn’t a secret that Eddie liked Buddy Holly. He had fond memories of the singer, with his records being one of the only possessions that his father had left behind. They used to dance together to “Peggy Sue” and sing along to “Everyday”. It was a few years after Frank’s death when Eddie found the old records collecting dust on the shelf and decided to take a listen to them again.
It was hard at first, with all the songs connected to his dad, but after repeated listens, Eddie made new memories to the much-loved songs.
Eddie sort of became obsessed with the man, looking up his biography and softly crying in his bed after learning about his untimely death. In his sleep, he would sometimes dream about the other man. It started out quite innocent, them just talking, then they had started to get … less than innocent and soon enough Eddie woke up to soiled sheets and a sheen of sweat realising that that was just another bloody thing he had to deal with.
His realisation that he was attracted to men shouldn’t have come as a surprise, especially since everyone else seemed to have known that Eddie was gay before he did. But after many sleepless nights, he had come to terms with it. In a way. It was just Buddy Holly right? It’s not like he’s a real person, he could live with having a crush on the memorialised singer, it was fine, everything was FINE.
Everything was NOT fine, because right now Richie Fucking Tozier was dressed up as Buddy Holly for Halloween and Eddie couldn’t comprehend anything. His brain was completely fried as he watched his best friend dance around the room talking to the other loser’s in a low voice closely imitating Buddy’s accent. His voices were definitely getting better.
Jesus fucking Christ he cannot be attracted to Richie “Trashmouth” Tozier.
He gulped down the rest of his drink and went to talk to Ben and Mike.
Eddie was surprised at how fast the time went by with the alcohol with his system. Throughout the night he could feel Richie gazing at him, but Eddie refused to look back too scared to come to terms with his possible attraction to his friend. Other than that, Eddie had a good time and before he knew it, his mother was the door ready to pick him up.
Thankfully, ma hadn’t noticed Eddie’s state of intoxication as she told him to clean up and head to bed.
Eddie was in his pyjamas when he heard a tapping coming from his bedroom window.
“Richie what the fuck are you doing here?” Eddie whisper screamed as he opened the sill.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” Richie said as he climbed into Eddie’s room. His hair was fighting against the grease, it was no longer pulled back but was in the natural mess that it would always fall to. The white blazer was gone, so was the tie, and his shirt and slacks were dirtied probably from climbing up to Eddie’s window. The whole façade was broken, he looked nothing like Buddy Holly, just his Richie and Eddie’s heart almost burst out of his chest with the sudden realisation that he was very much in love with Richie.
“No, I haven’t your dipshit, and can you quieten down, my mom will hear you,” the walls were thin, and he could hear her snoring from her bedroom. If she caught Richie, heaven knows what she would have done to him.
“Have so, you didn’t talk to me once tonight” Richie cried out exasperatingly, he wasn’t even trying to keep quiet and Eddie was panicking. “And I don’t know Eds-“
What caused Eddie to do what he did next could have been one of many things. It could have been the alcohol, the need to get Richie to shut up because his mother was a light sleeper and she could walk in at any given moment. Or just possibly, the fact that Richie looked handsome with his messy hair shining in the moonlight, his glasses askew and his lips stained red from the bloody-drink they all consumed but without thinking Eddie leaned in and planted a kiss on Richie’s mouth.
It was quite messy considering Richie’s mouth was open, mid conversation but as soon as their lips touched, Richie stopped talking. Eddie slowly opened his eyes and took a step back coming into his senses, and frankly quite astonished at his lack of self-control.
Eddie looked back at the now silent ‘Trashmouth’ who just stood silently blinking, did Eddie break him?
“Richie?”
“Yeah,” he replied, his voice softer, his face still glazed with a far-off look.
“Are you okay?”
“Just peachy Eds,”
“Look I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that,”
“What no, are you kidding? I’ve wanted to kiss you since 8th grade.”
“What?”
“Yeah, I wrote our initials on the kissing bridge and everything.”
“Richie… that’s gay”
“You literally just kissed me,”
“Yeah, but I only realised I like you like 4 hours ago?”
“Ha, so that’s why you were ignoring me, just knew you couldn’t keep your hands off all of this.”
God why did he like this man?
“Wait, was it the Buddy Holly? Oh my god! You totally have a type? Is that why you keep his records in your bedroom? So you can play with little…”
“Shut up Trashmouth, or I’ll”
“Or what? You’ll kiss me?” He said, his smirk was teasing and infuriating and god it was also so fucking hot.
Eddie grabbed Richie’s tie and pulled him forward and so their lips were inches apart. “I just might,” Eddie whispered as Richie’s breath hitched. Pushing away a few of the curls away from Richie’s eyes, he caressed Richie’s face with his hands and closed the distance. The kiss was much softer this time, savouring the feeling of his lips on the other boy.
This time, Richie put his arms around Eddie’s waist and pulled him closer. It was all encompassing the feeling of Richie’s body against his. Why hadn’t they done this before? It was the best feeling in the world and Eddie was living.
“Eddie-bear what are you doing awake?” His ma called.
Eddie and Richie quickly detached from each other’s grasp.
“Just getting a drink of water ma!” Eddie called out, practically pushing Richie back through to the window.
“Okay Eddie-kins just make sure you go to the toilet too, don’t want you to wet the bed.”
Richie opened his mouth as he sat on the window sill about to get himself down looking like he was about to retort something stupidly inappropriate.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” Eddie growled lowly faking annoyance and giving Richie one final peck.
Richie’s smirk fell into a soft smile before scaled down the house. Once he was down, he looked up at Eddie once more before giving him a little wave as he practically skipped home.
Eddie closed the window sill and went to bed with a smile on his face.
