" WORDS FAIL " + REDDIE

1 ; science & spice girls

1.

richie tozier is pacing his bedroom, hands on his hip as the cogs in his brain turn a mile a minute.

he's trying to decide what he should do about all of this. it's one thing for it to be a minor crush, but love? richie hasn't even ever been in a relationship that's lasted more than a few months before. after all, he's young—he's only nineteen. what would he know about love?

but then there's the fact that this is eddie he's talking about. giggly, swears when he wants, and sleeps on richie's shoulder when he passes out during a movie eddie. he's also his best friend. that's just not what best friends do, is it?

richie hates to admit to himself that he is completely and utterly in love with eddie kaspbrak.

because he knows that eddie probably doesn't see him like that. probably. I mean, maybe he does, who really knows?

richie wants to tell eddie, but it's all so sudden.

he's known for a few months now that he's had a minor crush on eddie. the boy is gorgeous, after all. how could he not? and to top it off he has one of the greatest personalities of anyone richie has ever had the pleasure of knowing. but this whole 'love' thing is different. it's new to richie, and he's only just realized it the day prior.

but it isn't until now, at around seven at night the next day, that it all hits richie. it hits him like a tsunami, ripping down buildings, and destroying homes, and leaving nothing untouched. this realization that he is in love with eddie is so awful for richid because he knows that he shouldn't feel this way about his best friend. but he does.

and at the same time it's so great because it's eddie. soft, gentle, beautiful eddie. with his hair always curling lightly around the edges, and the way he always wears fluffy socks when he studies, and his never failing to bring richie home a croissant when he goes out for coffee.

richie is still pacing when there's a light knock on his bedroom door.

he freezes and his heart is racing as he hears his roommate's voice come through the door.

"hey, richie?" eddie asks asks. his voice is muffled through the door.

"come in." richie is surprised his voice comes out so smooth. he is expecting a stutter.

eddie opens the door, his smile emphasising the dimples indenting his cheeks. gorgeous, richie thinks.

and all of a sudden, richie doesn't want to think about the consequences of his actions. he just wants to tell eddie. he just wants to blurt out those three words that could potentially ruin everything but he doesn't care.

because it's eddie, who looks so happy and extraordinary right then, and no one is standing in richie's way of telling eddie that. no one. so what's stopping him?

"hey, pizza just got here. wanna watch a movie? i finished revising an hour ago."

"sure," richie agrees, smiling. "can i actually, uh, tell you something?"

here it goes.

eddie's smile doesn't falter as he asks, "sure, what's up, richie?"

breathe. breathe. breathe–

"eddie, i–"

richie is interrupted by wannabe by the spice girls coming from eddie's pocket. he flushes red and fumbles into his back pocket, pulling out his phone.

"sorry, it's ben from my behavioral science class. he said he was going to call me if he needed help revising. i should take this." eddie accepts the call and mouths another 'sorry' to richie before exiting the room, chatting away to ben.

richie falls back onto his bed with a sigh. he feels dumb.

better luck next time, he thinks.

——

okay so i hope you guys like this story!! it isn't going to be too long, but if you guys like this maybe i'll make it a five-and-one series w a few different ships??

this was originally a phanfic i wrote but i changed dan and phil for eddie and richie. so my apologies if the names are messed up lol. but honestly everything lined up almost perfectly like detail wise??

- m