coverups

2

richie sat completely dumbfounded on his bed, staring at the orca tattoo that sat adjacent to, yet slightly higher than, his own. his thumb gently grazed over the picture, almost like he was still trying to convince himself this was real.

nearly two hours after making this discovery, there was a light, distinct tapping at his bedroom window. richie immediately recognized the taps, and felt his stomach drop. that was how eddie tapped on the window to let richie know he was outside. but richie couldn't face him right now, or possibly ever again.

the taps grew slightly louder as richie sat paralyzed on his bed. finally, when the light taps turned into a singular aggressive knock, richie found himself suddenly able to move again. he kicked off his other shoe and pulled the sock back on to cover the ink. he then walked towards his bedroom window, only to see the annoyed face of his best friend, eddie, who was signaling for him to open the window.

richie obliged, opening the screen-less window so he could scooch through.

eddie sat on the window frame after richie had taken a seat on his bed, still looking utterly pissed off with his friend. "what the hell, rich! i was out there for, like, ten minutes!"

richie shrugged, picking at his cuticles was he watched the floor.

"is something wrong?" eddie asked, eyebrows beginning to pinch together as he watched richie, who appeared nervous. a trait the boy almost never showed.

richie shook his head. "just a long day, is all,"

"are you sure? i've never seen you this... i don't know if nervous is even the right way to describe it," eddie pried, pushing himself off the windowsill before joining richie on his bed.

richie only shrugged. "i don't want to talk about it, okay, eds?"

eddie inhaled sharply, desperately wanting to get after richie for calling him that awful nickname that he hated with a burning passion, but clearly his friend was upset, and eddie didn't feel it was really the time to get after him for such a minuscule thing. instead, after slowly exhaling, eddie nodded. "i understand, rich. you can talk to me if you need to though,"

richie nodded, still picking his fingers and avoiding eddie's eyes.

eddie reached over, placing one of his hands on richie's to stop him from picking. "you shouldn't do that,"

richie tensed under the touch, but nodded stiffly. "i know. i'm trying to stop,"

eddie flashed a sympathetic smile that richie didn't see, before giving his hand a light squeeze.

richie could feel his heart beating faster now that eddie was touching him, and he desperately wanted him to stop, but he didn't know how to ask that without being rude. so, instead, richie repositioned himself sitting cross legged at the foot of his bed, finally facing, and looking at, eddie. "why're you over tonight?"

eddie turned so he was facing richie now, also sitting cross legged, and shrugged. "just needed to get away from mom, i guess,"

richie nodded. "wanna... talk about it?" he asked awkwardly, almost flinching at how awkward he sounded. never, not once, had he ever found himself this nervous around eddie. he knew why he was now, but he had no idea how to make it stop. and he worried that, until he could, he'd continue to be this nervous and awkward around eddie.

eddie only shrugged again. "i don't wanna bore you with the story; it's the same thing it always is,"

"if you wanna talk, i wanna listen. you won't bore me. promise,"

eddie smiled slightly at this. "thanks, rich,"

richie returned the smile, finally feeling a small amount of that awkwardness that seemed to fill
him, melt away.