.: Friday I'm In Love :|: Reddie :.

Of Course I Fucking Cried

Richie wasn't really feeling it lately.

The rush of seeing Eddie again was beginning to dwindle, and it had once again become the norm to see his boyfriend. Richie didn't like to dwell on the past, but lately it seemed like the past was very willing to dwell on him, and he couldn't help but remember the house he had been in every time he dozed off in class.

So here he sat in the piece of shit car that his dad left once Richie came parading back with what was clearly considered 'no excuse' in his household. Wentworth had taken the nice, shiny new car and left the old one that barely had any life left in it. Of course, to Richie, a car was a car, and cars could get you away. Away from the hellhole of a town he had no escape from, and away from the house that he felt like he was in every time he closed his eyes. The darkness just reminded him of how pitch black it had been, and suddenly he would be shivering, and then his muscles and wounds that he knew perfectly well had healed already would start to pain him.

He kept his eyes opened as wide as possible as he took a long drag on a cigarette, his gaze wandering along the line of trees in front of him. He was sitting on the hood of the car, and as far as he could be sure, he was a few miles outside of Derry, staring into some unknown patch of woods on the side of the road. Basically in the middle of nowhere.

His phone was in the car charging, and he was sure he had gotten a few texts by now. He hadn't gone to school, and it was nearly ten at night. He glanced back through the windshield, eyes widening slightly to see his phone lighting up like crazy from where it was attached to the portable charger. Almost all of them were from Eddie. He could tell because the emojis next to the name were the little spaghetti ones.

"For God's sakes, Eds," Richie laughed quietly, shaking his head. Getting up off of the hood, he walked over and got into the driver's seat. He unlocked his phone and was greeted by about five hundred panicked texts, no exaggeration there.

💞Spaghetti🍝

Richie: well, hello to you, too, spaghetti

Eddie: Where the fuck are you I'm literally freaking out I can't breathe

Richie: idk on the side of the road somewhere

Eddie: What the fuck Richie I've been trying to call you all day

Eddie: You know what I can't have this conversation through texting can you just come back?

Richie: that depends. am i in trouble

Eddie: You'd better believe it, baby.

Richie: ooh what are you gonna do to me, babe?

Eddie: Smack you then cry more

Richie: oh my god you've been crying?

Eddie: OF COURSE I'VE BEEN CRYING, DIPSHIT

Eddie: Look, just get here. As fast as humanly possible. My mom is pounding on my door and it just making this worse.

Richie: I'm on my way.

And he was on his way. He had been on his way the second Eddie asked him to be, even before he asked whether he was in trouble or not. He hadn't really cared, he had been on his way anyway. It had taken him fifteen minutes to get from his house to the spot he had been in and texting and driving took a solid five, so subtract the five that it took to get from his to Eddie's house since Eddie's was closer meant he would be arriving within approximately five minutes.

Sure enough, five minutes later he was rolling into Eddie's driveway. He practically leaped out of the car, and he could hear Sonia's screams from outside the house.

"Let me in, Eddie! I'll make it better! What's happening, Eddie Bear, why won't you talk to me?! Is it that Tozier boy? I saw the stunt you pulled with him in the hospital! Kissing his face like that. Is he what's causing all of this? This is why I don't appreciate faggots, Eddie! They're nothing but trouble. You're better off finding a girl who will stick with you through thick and thin!"

That was enough for Richie to be climbing the tree outside Eddie's window as fast as humanly possible. Eddie's inhaler made his pocket bulge. He wrenched the window opened before he was close enough and nearly lost his balance, falling halfway inside. He shimmied the rest of the way into the room and stood up, searching frantically for his boyfriend.

There he was, sitting up against the door as if he were afraid she would bust through, eyes red and puffy with his phone on the ground beside him. He was regarding Richie with weary and distrustful eyes, but the relief was evident.

"How do you think I felt?" His voice was quiet, probably hoarse from crying, and his breath whistled. "What was I supposed to think? Richie, I finally got you back after going a month without knowing whether or not you were laying dead in a ditch somewhere and now suddenly you disappear again without a trace. Not even a text message. Of course I fucking cried! I was terrified!" Eddie was raising his voice now, and it kept cracking, which Richie would have found funny if it weren't for the situation.

"I just got you back, finally got to be with you, and I thought I lost you again. Richie, I haven't even told you how I feel yet. We haven't sat down and talked out any of this shit. We just are, understand? But I have so much I want to say to you." Eddie shook his head, and Richie had a feeling he would still be crying if it weren't for the fact that he had probably dried himself up.

"I want to tell you that I lo -..." Eddie broke off, swallowing back a sob. His lower lip wobbled violently, and Richie's heart broke a little in his chest. His voice shook violently, causing him to sound more like Bill than himself. "I l - love you, Richie. I love you so much and I was so scared." Richie crossed the room in a single stride, crouching down next to Eddie and gathering the boy in his arms.

"Eddie, is there someone in there?"

Both boys ignored Sonia and Eddie just curled himself into Richie's embrace, shoulders shaking as he sobbed. Richie reached into his back pocket, pulling out the aspirator and clutching it tightly as he buried his face in Eddie's hair.

"I love you, too, Eddie." Richie's voice wobbled a little as well as he fought to hold back his own tears. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. Every time I close my eyes, I feel like I'm back there. In that house. I feel like I'm back in the moment when he just went all out on me. It was like he wasn't just an old guy, Eds, it was like he had some weird ability, like inhuman strength or something. And I never saw that dog again, so who knows what he did to it. But I can't get rid of the idea that it happened, and it feels like my fault." He squeezed Eddie tighter, pulling the smaller boy so he sat in his lap since it was more comfortable that way.

"Just next time, let me know, okay? I can't feel like I'm losing you again." Eddie sighed, pulling away to look at Richie with wide and desperate eyes. Richie nodded quickly, then shoved the aspirator into his partner's mouth, grinning feebly.

"Here you go." He triggered the medicine, watching as Eddie breathed in deeply and visibly relaxed, before placing it to the side gently. His hands moved to Richie's chest, and he smiled softly, leaning down so their foreheads touched. Richie lifted his chin and kissed Eddie's nose, smiling as well.

Then Eddie's phone went off, and when they both looked, their stomachs dropped.

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[eds.the.spagheds]: Message from billy_goat_gruff to The Losers' Club: Guys, I think something is wrong with Georgie.