OUCH!➳reddie

s i x

richie spent the rest of his lunch period with stanley, picking up eddie's loose papers that he left in the foyer when sprinting off, looking close to crying. richie's stomach churned at the thought of eddie crying, tears streaming down his face and hands trembling.

the next day he would give eddie back his papers, he had came to a conclusion.

however absence of texts from eddie worried the curly haired boy. fear had settled in his gut, twisting and turning. it caused richie to gnaw his fingernails nervously. he paced his room, occasionally glancing at his phone in hopes that eddie would text him back.

he could hear his parents arguing downstairs and he didn't have enough guts to face them. his house was quickly becoming toxic and richie didn't feel safe.

around 11, it proved that eddie wasn't going to text him back. the house had abated slightly, since one of them had passed out. he sighed, running a hand over his face. was eddie hurt? he didn't seemed injured, just a little shaken up by the shoves but who knows what happened before he came.

he knew defending eddie would have consequences but richie wasn't scared of henry and his goons. being popular had its quirks  and he knew that his friends would have his back if they came after richie.

but he wasn't focused on that at the moment. No, he was focused on the fact that henry had targeted eddie, the fragile new kid that had caused no trouble whatsoever. but that was henry's perfect target.

richie didn't get too much sleep that night.

***

the next day, richie sat at his desk, eddie's papers in a neat pile as he waited for eddie to walk through the door. his leg bounced unconsciously.

he had make a cute little binder for eddie's pages in a fastidious manner. he discovered that eddie dotted his 'i's with hearts. it was adorable.

eddie entered the class at the bell, head down and figure shy. without lifting his head to meet richie's hopeful eyes, he made his way to his desk. richie's heart sank like an anchor.

was eddie mad? did he do something wrong? he barely paid any attention to mrs.irwin, who droned out in a tired tone. he tapped his fingers on his desk anxiously and chewed on his bottom lip. eddie sat at the back of his mind, swirling into his thoughts like a messy kid's painting.

mrs. irwin's lesson went by slow, dry and dull. richie drew on his desk, occasionally glancing at eddie's binder, making sure it was neat and perfect.

finally, the lesson drew out to an end and she assigned a worksheet. she then dismissed the class to have their own conversation if they did so quietly. the class quickly erupted in voices, chatter and laughter.

richie turned his head to see that eddie was quietly doing his work, somewhat annoyed by all the conversations that surrounded him.

he bit his lip as eddie raised his head, glancing at richie only to see he was staring back at him. eddie blushed, quickly adverting his gaze back to his page.

i have to talk to him, richie thought fervently. his thoughts dragged him back to the first time they met. he smiled.

using his page, he gently slid the edge over his pointer finger. he expected a sharp sting then nothing but he yelped, pain shooting up his arm. he quickly shook his hand, hissing in pain with a large pout on his face.

"eddie," he tapped the shorter boy's shoulder, feeling him jump under his touch. large, puppy dog eyes looked up in confusion. richie's insides melted slightly. he lifted his hand, showing his minuscule cut.

eddie struggled to keep a smile off his face but lost the fight. sparks shot up richie's arm as eddie gently grabbed his hand in his own, like he had previously done two times before yet it still had the same heart racing affect.

"how do you manage to always hurt yourself?" it was supposed to be scolding but it came out fondly. richie chuckled, shrugging his shoulders as eddie placed the bandaid on his finger. "it's a gift, really."

eddie laughed softly, shaking his head in disappointment. richie then took it upon himself to give eddie his pages back.

"o-oh," he said softly, grabbing the neatly stacked binder of papers with an incredulous look in his eyes. "thank you, richie."

richie smiled sheepishly, a shy blush spreading across his cheeks. to redirect the attention from his action, richie raised hands, pouting. "it still hurts, eds," before eddie could tell him not to call him that, he smirked jokingly, "kiss it better?"

however, it was to his complete shock and embarrassment when eddie rolled his eyes before grabbing richie's hand and planting a soft kiss on the injured area. his eyes were wide with disbelief as the bell rang, unmoving as eddie quickly packed up his things, unable to take the embarrassment for much longer as he rushed out of the class, pushing past a stunned richie.

when he left, richie was alone, a large shit eating grin on his face and butterflies in his tummy just thinking about how soft eddie's lips were. how good they felt pressed against his soft skin.

he didn't care if anyone saw. because in that moment, it was worth it.

richie practically skipped out of the classroom.