OUCH!➳reddie

f i f t e e n

"ouch! i thought you were helping me, not putting me in more pain that makes me want to chop my fucking leg off!"

"can you shut the fuck up, richie?" eddie hissed as he continued to apply antibiotics on his cut. richie let out a dramatic 'owwwwww!' as he rapidly tapped his foot against the bathroom floor and tapped his hands against his thighs. he got out of his freezing cold clothes and into a pair of small pyjama pants and a t-shirt.

richie sat on the closed toilet as eddie worked on his knee, unwrapping a large bandaid. "stay still," eddie scolded. richie wasn't listening, staring at the cup of water that held eddie's flowers in them. they were slightly wilted but he seemed to care for them.

"how do you manage to always hurt yourself?" richie blinked, smirking because that was one of the first things eddie had said to him. he grinned, "just a gift, i suppose."

eddie rolled his eyes, cleaning up his messy cut. "there," he got up and dusted his pants off. richie's legs were cramping up from how long he had to sit there on the closed toilet seat. he pinched eddie's cheek and grinned. "thank you, doctor eddie-spaghetti."

eddie blushed, pushing away his fingers from his ruby cheeks. "told you not to call me that," he grumbled under his breath. richie only replied with a grin much to eddie's annoyance.

suddenly, a loud crash of thunder cut through the room. the bathroom lights flickered before they flashed softly and burned out. richie tore his gaze away from the lights and towards eddie, who shuddered all over with his eyes screwed shut.

"eds," richie placed a gentle hand on eddie's shoulder, feeling him trembled underneath his touch. eddie jumped, looking up at richie with unshed tears as the two teens stood in darkness, the only sound was their breathing.

"hey, you okay?" he asked softly. thunder rumbled around them once again. he took eddie's shaking hand into his own, his cold hands easily enveloping eddie's soft and somewhat clammy hand. he didn't mind. they fit like two puzzle pieces (besides the cast that dug uncomfortably in their stomachs, not they minded) and the warm fuzzy feeling grew in richie's stomach like weeds.

eddie blushed as richie pulled him closer, slightly wet hair dampen his own as richie buried his face into eddie's hair; it smelt like green apples. "i'm here," he said in a hushed tone.

he ran his thumb over the asthmatic boy's knuckle in an effort to soothe him. it worked. richie felt the boy relax, his shoulders droop as he melted in richie's hug. he was like putty in his palm.

thunder crashed again but this time eddie didn't flinch as he hid his face into richie's chest, feeling safe from the storm. protected.

time dripped past the two as the storm continued to roll over the small town of derry. but it no longer mattered. not when they had each other to hold.

"r-rich," eddie broke the silence. his voice was as sweet as honey but as conflicted as war. richie's stomach twisted, he licked his lips nervously as he pulled away from eddie. "yeah?"

eddie reached into his pocket, pulling out his inhaler. he took a hit, his expression nervous. "the a-almost kiss, um," eddie fiddled with his fingers. he swallowed. "it was a mistake, a-a one time thing."

and that's when richie's heart broke. snapped in half and stomped on by the unaware angel who came to earth just to break hearts. eddie looked up, biting his lip until it was close to bloody. time seemed to stop and richie's heart pounded in his ears.

"oh, o-of course," richie's fake grin hurt his cheeks. "i'm no faggot, if i was, how could i be screwing your mom?"

eddie didn't laugh, didn't even crack a smile. he just stood there in the darkness, his wide puppy eyes swirling with emotions that richie's couldn't exactly pinpoint.

"great," was eddie's weak response. he took another hit of his inhaler, his shoulders tensing but staying that way.

the storm around the two cleared slightly, giving richie a chance to pull away, a little too harshly. eddie stumbled back, slightly taken aback by the action, eyes wide with surprise. richie didn't take it back though, hand on the door.

"i-i," richie backed up, knocking into the vase of flowers. they spilled onto the floor, the glass breaking into a million pieces; shattered like his heart. "i gotta go, u-um. i totally forgot."

he couldn't even finish as he ran out the door, racing down the stairs. "rich!" he ignored eddie's voice, pretending not to hear him. he opened the front door, running into the rain. without his jacket, he jumped on his bike, pedalling down the street almost as fast as the tears that were trickling down his cheeks.

what he didn't know was that eddie sat on his bathroom floor, soft sobs racking his shoulders as he picked up the flowers up off the floor, cutting his hands on the glass but ignoring the pain.

"eddie-bear!" his mother screeched as eddie cried, unable to look up and face his mother.

he barely registered the fact that he was pulled into her chest. using his good arm, he wrapped his arm around his mother, sobbing in the crook of her neck. god, all he wanted was richie. but richie wasn't a fag, not like him.

he bit his lip until it bled as he pulled his mom even closer, his sobs now hurting his chest. he hiccuped, his cheeks flushed.

the two's hearts were breaking at the same time and they didn't notice. they were too preoccupied by the sound of their own hearts breaking ringing in their ears.