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

Let's Hit The Road

"Eddie.. It's time to wake up, baby." Richie pressed a kiss to Eddie's cheek, a smile spreading across his face. Excitement was giving him the early morning jitters. Eddie mumbled something incoherent and rolled onto his back, eyes remaining shut tight.

"You're the one that was so adamant about getting up early," Richie pointed out softly, though he knew the brunette was sleeping and wouldn't respond. He brushed Eddie's hair out of his face and gave him a peck on the lips, heart fluttering at the way his boyfriend's face seemed to scrunch up in confusion. He placed a kiss on every single one of Eddie's freckles, slowly coaxing him out of his slumber and into the waking world.

"Mmm, Richie," Eddie murmured, making grabby hands at him. "Gimme a hug." Richie accepted his request happily, pulling the boy up into a sitting position and hugging him tightly. Eddie curled himself around Richie as tightly as he could, practically squeezing the life out of him. "I'm so excited!" The boy squeaked, suddenly much more awake than he had been seconds before.

"Me too, Spaghetti, but they're gonna be here to get us in like a half an hour and we still have stuff to do, okay?" Richie heaved himself up, still holding Eddie, and walked out of the room. He headed towards the bathroom, opening the door and setting Eddie down. "You can shower first, I'll find you an outfit and put in here for when you're done." Eddie nodded obediently, eyes shining with excitement. "I'll be in the kitchen packing some snacks, alright?" Another nod, and Richie tossed him a towel from the closet before shutting the door quietly behind himself.

He was grinning practically from ear to ear as he headed back into his own room and picked out a comfortable summer outfit for Eddie to wear in the car so he wouldn't get too hot but he also wouldn't be uncomfortable. He paraded back to the bathroom and opened the door, placing the folded items on the counter and walking back out. He made sure to shut the door again, grabbing both his and Eddie's backpacks as he headed downstairs. The sun wasn't up yet, so it was still pretty dark outside when he turned the lights on.

Richie hesitated, looking down at Eddie's backpack. His smile faded a little bit as his fingers brushed the frayed edges of the holes on the front. He glanced at his wallet where it sat on the counter and his gaze hardened. Grabbing a pad of paper and jogging down a quick note, he took his wallet and exited the house, hopping in the car and rolling out of the driveway. He headed into town, humming along softly to the tune on the radio as he pulled into the parking lot of his destination.

Richie got out of the car and walked into the convenience store which was the only place opened at five thirty in the morning and walked straight to the back where there was clearance. He picked up the first bag he could find that was big enough to hold everything Eddie wanted to bring and walked back to the front of the store, putting it on the counter.

"Ten dollars, please," the cashier prompted. He looked exhausted, what with the dark circles under his eyes. Richie put down a twenty with a small smile and took the bag, heading back outside. When he got back to the house he moved all of Eddie's belongings from his ripped backpack into the new one, zipping it all up once he had added some snacks and a few bottles of water.

There was a soft pattern of footsteps and he turned to see Eddie holding the note with a confused look in his eyes. Richie stood up and scratched at the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly as he held up the new bag.

"I, um.. I didn't want to bring the old one. I thought maybe we could.. Get rid of it.. If that's okay with you." Richie averted his eyes, sure that his comment might upset Eddie in some way. But instead he felt a pair of arms wrapping around him again and a soft pressure on his lips as Eddie kissed him.

"Thank you, 'Chee. I love it." Eddie took the old bag and tossed it in the trash. "The shower is free," he announced. Richie observed the droplets of water coming from his hair, and smirked.

"I can see that. You should dry your hair, but don't do anything fancy with it, you're gonna want to be as comfortable as possible." Eddie nodded and followed Richie to the bathroom. The taller boy hopped in the shower while the hair drier was turned on and the loud noise filled the room completely.

"Hey, Eds, when you're done could you grab the clothes I left on the end of the bed?" Richie called. "I forgot to bring them in here."

"Yup!" Eddie replied, and the hair drier was switched off. There was the soft sound of a door closing, and Richie tried to finish up, scrubbing his hair thoroughly as Eddie entered and left once more. He turned off the water and swept the curtain aside, drying himself off and getting dressed. He towel-dried his own hair as best he could since if he used the blow drier it would end up looking like a lion's mane and put on a beanie. When he got out of the bathroom, Eddie was staring out the window intently with wide eyes.

"Eddie, you realize we have to put our shoes on even if they get here right this second, right?" Richie chuckled, picking up his sneakers and pulling them onto his feet. He tied them, tossing Eddie's sandals in his direction. The brunette reluctantly tore his gaze away from the window and pulled on his sneakers, glancing at the window every so often.

"I'm gonna go grab the suitcase," Richie announced, but he might as well have just stayed silent, because Eddie obviously wasn't listening. Richie grinned. "And I'm gonna unpack everything and put it away." No response. Richie hesitated, thinking for a moment. "Then I'm going to call them and say we can't go because Eddie is being a little bitch and he's not paying any attention to me."

"You are so needy," Eddie complained, but he turned around and yanked his boyfriend into a searing kiss. Richie was startled at first, but quickly reciprocated, lifting Eddie into the air and spinning him around. "Go get the suitcase, they're going to get here any minute now!" Richie let go and hurried back to his room, picking up the unnecessarily heavy bag and dragging it back to the front door.

"They're here!" Came Eddie's excited shriek. He heard the door get thrown opened, and he laughed, hurrying into the front room and out the door where Stan and Bill were now climbing out and Ben was asleep in the middle row with his face squashed against the window. Bev sat in the seat beside him nodding off, but not quite sleeping.

Stan took the suitcase from Richie while Bill opened the trunk and Eddie was busy hauling ass out of the house with their two backpacks. Richie took his own and caught Eddie's arm before he could get away.

"You're going to want a pillow, Eds. Wanna go grab both of ours? I'll take care of the bag." Eddie rolled his eyes but nodded, giving Richie his backpack and dashing back into the house. Richie threw his head back and groaned loudly. "Oh my God he's so excited that it hurts. It makes me more excited. I'm apologizing ahead of time if he keeps anyone up." Stan just shrugged, a knowing smile crossing his lips.

"We've just got to pick up Mike. I've got first shift driving. We're planning to try and wait until ten to eat, but I think we all packed snacks to tide ourselves over so we could possibly wait until lunch as long as nobody has to use the bathroom." Stan opened the car door and got back in the drivers' seat, Bill climbing into the passengers' seat. Eddie came rushing back out of the house with two pillows and their favorite blanket.

"I'm back. I brought a blanket too, but it'll probably be too hot to use it. Just in case." Eddie shrugged, and started climbing into the car. Richie ran into the house and did one final check, grabbing the keys and locking the door on his way out. He climbed into the car and got into the back row window seat. Eddie had opted to sit in the middle, which meant that Mike got the other window seat. As soon as Richie had buckled his seatbelt, Eddie was snuggling against him with his phone out scrolling through Instagram.

Stan eased his way out of the driveway and headed towards Mike's house. It was a bit further away than everyone else's, but it wasn't too far. Mike was easily the most prepared out of any of them, already standing out on his porch with his luggage when they arrived. He made quick work of it, packing everything into the trunk except his duffel bag and pillow then climbing into the back row with Richie and Eddie.

"Everyone ready?" Stan asked, meeting the gazes of everyone who was awake through the rear view mirror. Eddie nodded vigorously, Richie saluted, and Mike just grinned.

"I'll take that as a yes. Let's hit the road, then."