Meant To Be • Reddie

6.

- Eddie's POV -

The evening following the bad school day, I was finally home and preparing dinner for my mother and I.

A lot of the time my mother didn't feel like cooking or was "too tired", and since I was older now, I was usually the caretaker for the both of us.

I was the responsible one, keeping the house clean, making sure we've both eaten, and picking up our groceries and our medicine from the pharmacy.

I stirred some food that was boiling in one of the pots, yawning tiredly from all of the action that had ensued today.

I wondered what Richie was up to now.

He was probably having dinner at home with his family right now, his mother making a large extravagant meal of some sort and the family holding hands and saying a prayer before they ate.

I couldn't wait until we could both escape from this small town hell.

Even if it was just Richie and I sharing a small apartment and struggling to pay our bills, at least we'd be happy together, right?

I realized that no matter how many days, months, or years that Richie and I had spent apart, our bond never disappeared. Our relationship never changed.

Maybe we had still been in love this entire time.

I started toying anxiously with the metal spoon in my hand, remembering the way he held me tight and kissed me as much as he could at school.

I never wanted to lose him. Not again.

I was startled by the sound of the house phone ringing from the hallway.

I turned the stove burners down and carried the cooking utensil with me as I retreated to the hallway to answer the call.

I picked up the phone, holding it up to my ear. "Hello?"

I smiled widely as I heard Richie's voice through the other line. "Hey Eds, what's up?"

"Not much, I'm about to eat dinner." I replied, tightening my grip on the handle of the phone, ecstatic to be talking to my favorite person. "What are you up to?"

"I was going to ask if you wanted to go camping with us. We're going to swim, hike, make a fire and cook our own food, all of that stereotypical shit. You in?" Richie questioned with a hopeful tone of voice.

"Eddie! How's dinner coming along sweetheart?" Mrs. Kaspbrak called out from the living area where she was relaxing in her recliner. "Who are you talking to honey?"

Eddie cuffed his hand over the phone's speaker and held it away from his face. "No one, mom! And dinner is almost done!"

There was a long silence after that, so Eddie moved the phone back towards his head and resumed speaking with Richie. "Yeah, I can try. What time will you be here?"

"Mike's bringing his truck, so we should be at the park near your house by five. Will you be there?"

Eddie nodded excitedly, although it couldn't even be seen. "Yeah, I'll be there."