"When I had you to myself, I didn't want you around. Those pretty faces always make you stand out in a crowd. But someone picked you from the bunch, one glance is all it took. Now it's much too late for me to take a second look."
-The Jackson 5
(I Want You Back, The Jackson 5)
-FLASHBACK-
Eddie knew it was a good thing that Richie made him promise that he wouldn't go back to the old house that he discovered on Monday. If he didn't make that promise to Richie, he would have broken it already. It could have been anybody else and Eddie would have gone right back to the house to see why it creeped him out so much. But it wasn't just anybody, it was Richie and that meant Eddie had to keep his word because he'd never break a promise he made to Richie Tozier.
The two had gone back there together to retrieve Eddie's fanny pack but by the time they went back, it was gone. Eddie was upset but his sadness disappeared the next day when he opened his locker and found a new fanny pack waiting for him. What made it even more special was the card that laid under it. Eddie already knew Richie got it for him and that made it a lot better.
He had never gotten the chance to thank him because most of his attention was going towards Peter. Eddie had been planning on breaking up with him but it never seemed like the right time. He was waiting for Peter to be happy but he was always mad about something. If he weren't angry about Eddie mentioning Richie, he'd be angry about Eddie staring at his best friend. Peter would always have something to be upset about and Eddie knew that wasn't going to change anytime soon. The only time Peter would act remotely happy is during the creative writing club when he talked to Bill.
Eddie was happy to see him talking to one of the losers. Peter was surprisingly patient with Bill's stutter and the two could talk about anything and everything. Eddie didn't mind, whenever Bill was talking to Peter, he could pass notes with Richie. Even though Eddie was getting to talk to Richie, everything was still slowly falling apart. He wasn't able to be with Richie. Just talking to him didn't seem enough anymore. They were friends and Eddie was fine with that when they were twelve, but now they were seventeen and their innocent friendship was gone.
Eddie planned on breaking up with Peter and once he gained the courage to do so, he would leave Derry without looking back. He knew that Peter had a crush on Bill and it didn't bother him in the slightest. Eddie wasn't bothered when he always talked about Bill. Eddie wasn't bothered when his boyfriend would roll his eyes at Stanley because he was in love with the stuttering boy. Eddie wasn't bothered when he caught Peter trying to kiss Bill. He should have been upset about it but he wasn't. Eddie was only bothered when Peter told him to not talk to Richie.
There were a lot of things Eddie could be doing on a Friday night, yet he was doing one of the worst things. He stood next to Peter at Betty's house. Her parties weren't out of control but there was always a large number of people there. Eddie was shocked when Peter told him that they were going, he knew his boyfriend hated parties but he later found out as to why the two were going together. Bill was going to be there. Eddie didn't care but he didn't want to go. He knew once Peter "demanded" that he go to the party, he would give in and end up being there next to his terrible boyfriend.
"Do you want a drink?" Peter asked him as the two stood awkwardly together. This was something that Eddie wasn't used to, his face scrunched up at the question and he shook his head slightly.
"Drinking cheap beer? With all these underage teens who have no reason to be drinking in the first place?" Eddie questioned, scoffing quietly to himself. "No thanks, Peter. Go right ahead and join them. I came here because you told me to and I'm actually really starting to get tired of doing things because you tell me to do them."
"Whatever," Peter mumbled. "Let's dance-" he stopped, his hand grabbing Eddie's in a harsh manner. When Eddie glared at him, he untightened his grip. "I mean- will you please dance with me, Eddie?"
"Nope," Eddie grinned. "Thanks for the offer though."
"You're very annoying," Peter stated, his face a little red from embarrassment. He kissed his cheek and faked a smile so no one would think they were arguing. Eddie rolled his eyes at the boy he was supposed to be "in love" with. "What? Would you rather be talking to your Trashmouth? He looks like he's having a good time."
Eddie kissed his cheek back, trying to play it off as if they were the happiest couple. "I'd rather be annoying than a controlling asshole," he shot back. "And honestly, yeah, I wish I was talking to Trashmouth Tozier right now. He's my best friend."
Eddie looked around the room and spotted Richie. A small smile reached his face but it quickly disappeared when he saw Lizzy by his best friend's side. He turned to Peter with a frown on his face, he shook it off and shrugged. "If he's having a good time then I'm happy for him. He deserves to have a great time."
Peter looked at his boyfriend before looking around the room for his new crush. When he spotted his sister with her ex, he smirked. Peter chuckled as he began looking for the stuttering boy again. "Have you seen Bill?" he asked Eddie.
Eddie laughed, shaking his head. "I deserve a lot better than you. I hope you know that. I should be with someone who makes me happy. Someone who would put me first no matter what and someone who doesn't control me."
Peter's loose grip on Eddie's hand was now tight. He squeezed the smaller boy's hand and Eddie yelped out in pain. Peter shot a baleful glance in Eddie's direction. "I'm perfect for you, Eds," he whispered, attempting to block out the anger in his voice. "Who do you think that someone could be? Richie?" Peter asked. "If Richie didn't love you before we started dating, what makes you think he'll love if we ever did break up?"
"It's Eddie," he corrected. "And I don't even care if Richie never loves me back. I really don't. At this point, I've convinced myself that he'll never even like me. I'm just tired of all of this. Of you. Of my mom. Of Derry. Richie makes me happy and I love him. I'm sorry but I do. I really love him. I don't feel that way about you."
Peter's grip was worse than tight. His nails dug into Eddie's skin. The smaller boy's skin slowly tore and he felt his hand burn as Peter's nails ripped small amounts of his skin open. Eddie shrugged and yanked his hand away, trying to cover up the pain he felt. Peter was infuriated by what he heard. "I was thinking that maybe we can go on a date next weekend?" Peter changed the subject. He always did that when he was wrong, when he felt anger, or when he knew something bad was about to happen. "We can go to that one diner, I know you like it. The one by our school-"
"I'm gonna be busy next weekend," Eddie interrupted him. Next weekend, he would be leaving Derry. That would be it for him. Eddie would be gone and maybe no one would care, but the only thing he was concerned about was Richie. He tried to shake off the thought because it was the only thought that could pull him back to Derry. The only thought that would keep him there. He looked up at Peter and waited for him to make a smart ass reply.
"What are you busy with?"
"My mom and I are going to clean the house," he lied.
"Well...." Peter thought for a minute, "Maybe I'll just ask Bill to come with me. He's good company."
Eddie nodded, not caring for a second. "Sure," he said. "You should go look for him right now and while you're at it, you should tell him it's a date because as of right now you are so fucking singl-" Their argument was soon cut off.
So close to breaking up with him, Eddie thought.
"Hey, g-guys," Bill spoke as he walked over to them with Ben, Beverly, and Stanley by his side. "I didn't th-think you guys would be here."
"I don't want to be here," Stan added.
"Bill!" Peter exclaimed happily. His look changed when he noticed Bill's hand placed in Stanley's. "Oh- are you guys like together now or something?"
Bill became slightly red as he turned to Stan and waited for him to answer. Before Stanley could ask Bill out in front of them, he jumped back when he heard Ben gasp. "Eddie," he dramatically stated as Beverly looked at him confused. Ben stepped in front of Eddie and grabbed his hand and pulled it up. "What happened to your hand? It's bleeding?" Ben, Beverly, Stanley, and Bill all looked at the five marks that had blood slowly rising from them.
Eddie sighed and looked down. He felt embarrassed. "It's nothing," Eddie insisted. "I fell on the way here and scraped my hand." The boy glanced at Peter who was giving him the one look he hated most. The good job look. The don't let them know look. Eddie was just so tired of everything.
The three losers nodded their heads and gave him a soft smile. Ben didn't nod with the other three because he didn't believe him. He knew Eddie was lying and he knew where the marks came from. Ben hated seeing one of his best friends like this. Eddie was stuck and someone had to help him. "Didn't you guys get here by Peter's car?" Ben blurted out.
"Oh," Eddie laughed nervously and nodded. "Umm yeah."
All of the losers then turned their attention back to their friend and watched the scene in front of them. "Wait," Beverly joined in, "How did that happen to your hand if you guys didn't walk here?"
"I fell on my way up here and scraped my hand," Eddie responded quickly, his heart began beating faster than usual as he was getting interrogated by his friends. The group grew suspicious when they noticed how nervous Eddie was.
"So you scraped your hand..... on grass?" Stanley questioned, catching on to what actually happened.
Eddie froze, he didn't know what to say. His eyes widened slowly and he just stared at his friends with a frown. He couldn't break out of this one. They had caught him and they were all going to know why his hand was the way it was.
On the other side of the room, Richie stood next to Lizzy as Mike went to get him another water. His eyes rested on his ex-girlfriend and he shook his head to himself. "You look exactly like your fucking brother," Richie loudly noted. "And you already know that I hate him more than anything and anybody."
"Well, we're twins," she mumbled, annoyed with him.
"Peter sucks," Richie groaned. "He really sucks." Richie glanced over at Eddie once and grabbed Lizzy's drink before shoving it to his lips. "Like really fucking sucks," he murmured against the cup. Lizzy shrugged and let out a chuckle. "You're basically his other half- so I don't know why I'm talking to you about this."
"He's got his problems," Lizzy defended. "And if you're so heartbroken over the kid being with Peter- why don't you just go over there and tell him that you like him? Or love him? Or whatever you feel? You've been standing over here staring the whole time."
"Aren't you the one who told me that I shouldn't tell Eddie my feelings because he was happy with Peter?" Richie questioned.
"You shouldn't have listened to me," she admitted. "I was the bitchy ex-girlfriend who was pissed because she just got broken up with. Why the hell would you listen to me, dumbass? It was clear that I said that out of anger."
Richie thought for a second, "I don't even know why I listened to you. I'm such a dumbass."
"I'm glad we've established that you're a dumbass," Lizzy smiled.
Richie kept his eyes on the smaller boy who was on the other side of the room. "He's so pretty," he whined, taking another drink from his cup. "Why does he like your brother? Your brother is such a dick and all he does is write crappy poetry. And Eddie- he's just great. Peter doesn't even care about him," Richie said. He turned to Liz, "I care about him."
"Go talk to him," she suggested while taking his drink away. "Nothing is going to happen if you sit here. What do you expect? Him to come marching over here and telling you that he's in love with you?"
"Would that be so bad to imagine?"
"Keep dreaming, Richie," she mumbled. "Nothing's gonna happen if you don't tell him you love him. If you wait too long to say it- then it's gonna be too late and you're gonna wish you said it when you had the chance."
Richie listened and felt bitter. He looked across the room and saw the smile on Eddie's face. Richie couldn't tell if it was real or fake but he hated seeing him so happy with somebody that wasn't him. Every emotion that he was feeling rested in his eyes as he turned to Lizzy. "I think it's already too late, Liz."
Lizzy shook her head. "He's right over there. If he's still here, if he still talks to you then maybe it isn't. It'll happen sooner or later," she assured. "I'll see you around, Richie. Max is waiting in the car. She's taking me to a movie."
"Derry's favorite lesbians," he joked. "I'll see you at school. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"Then I'll have to do everything," Lizzy laughed and waved.
As she left, Nirvana came on and Richie smiled widely. Mike soon came back with his water and Richie took it before the two began singing together. "Come as you, as you were," he shouted. A little bit of his water got on the floor while he attempted to dance.
"As I want you to be," Mike sung back to his friend, acting just as stupid.
"As a friend, as a friend-"
"As an old enemy," Mike finished.
"Take your time, hurry up-"
The song got cut off and another pop song started up. Richie went right back to being bitter and turned to Mike with a frown. "I can't even listen to Nirvana. Why does this world hate me so much?"
"The world doesn't hate you," Mike explained. "It just doesn't like you that much." Richie rolled his eyes while he took a long drink of his water.
"The world does hate me, Mike," he ranted. "If it didn't hate me, I'd be with Eds right now. Not that you aren't a great date for Betty's shitty party but it's Eddie, you know?" Mike nodded his head at his words with a small smile and Richie went on, "I just wish that we could be together. I think I love him, Mike."
"Of course you love him," Mike told him. "It's you and it's Eddie. You guys have always liked each other but you don't realize those things until you almost lose them or if you do lose them."
"What about you? Ben isn't with Beverly and you still know your feelings towards him? Why is it different with you guys?" Richie asked, pushing his back up against the wall. The whole room was filled with happiness and crazy teenagers, but Richie was miserable. He was glad to have someone like Mike in his life but all he really wanted right now was to be with his best friend. Richie knew being with Eddie wasn't likely at this point, that's what made it worse.
"Well," Mike hummed. "One, I know what I want. And two, in some weird way he's already with Beverly. He loves her. They balance each other out. They put each other up and they make each other happy. That's when I realized my feelings."
"Everything is one-sided-"
Mike was done, he knew both of them loved each other but neither one knew it. Every single day he would listen to Eddie say 'I want Richie to love me back' and when he wasn't with Eddie, he was with Richie who ranted about the smaller boy. The feelings between them were mutual. "What makes you think it's one-sided?" he asked, wanting to tell him everything. Mike made a promise to his friend and he didn't break promises. "What if in some weird crazy universe Eddie Kaspbrak could actually love you?"
"That would be a miracle," Richie mumbled, taking another drink of his water. "Miracles don't happen often."
"Then I guess we live in a world where miracles exist," Mike laughed, trying to throw the hint at his clueless friend.
Richie's eyes widened. He definitely caught the hint. "Wait," he almost choked on his water as he took a deep breath. "Does Eddie like- Does Eddie- Does Eddie love me?"
Richie stared at his friend and waited for a reply. When he noticed Mike looking in somebody else's direction, Richie followed his gaze and his eyes ended up on Eddie and Ben. His eyebrows slowly raised when he saw Eddie's hand resting in Ben's. "What's wrong with his hand?" Mike squinted his eyes, trying to get a better look.
Richie's eyes went back and forth between Eddie and Peter. "I know what happened," Richie huffed. He wasn't the type of person to get angry, Richie was usually laughing most of the time. There were times when he had to be serious though, he had to put every joke he owned in a box and lock it away in the back of his mind. Richie considered this to be one of those moments. "Will you hold my water for a second?"
Mike gave him a questioning look before taking the water from him. "Richie," he said calmly. "Let's think about what we're doing before we do something Richie-ish."
"I'm tired of thinking," Richie muttered. "And right now I'm in the mood to do something Richie-ish." He began walking towards the other losers and Peter. There was something building up inside of him and he couldn't describe it correctly, but it made him feel like he could do anything he wanted to.
"If you're thinking about doing something to Peter then please re-think about it. Richie, I love you but you can't fight at all. I don't want to see you get hurt," Mike sighed. "Let's just drink water! Yeah, let's do that. Water is great and pure."
Mike wasn't wrong. Richie couldn't fight decently to save his own life. He was terrible and he knew that, everybody knew that. The only losers who could really fight were Mike and Beverly. That's why most of the losers would have both by their side if they felt threatened. They were always good to have around.
Richie wasn't thinking about that at the moment. He didn't even know what he was doing. His feet were walking towards Peter and the anger he felt only increased as he got a clearer view of him. Mike shouted after him while he followed. Something was about to happen and Mike knew that he couldn't stop it. Richie sped up and finally slowed down when he made eye contact with Eddie. His eyes dropped down to the boy's hand and he shook his head. "Hey, Eds," he said quickly before walking right past him.
Eddie was still frozen from the moment he was having with the losers. He snapped out of it once he heard Richie's voice. There was a moment of silence and Eddie stood there confused. "Richie, what are you doing-"
Richie had walked over to Peter and rested his hand on his shoulder. He pulled Peter in his direction. The boy turned towards Richie just as confused as Eddie. Mike had kept his head down, not wanting to watch. Richie balled up his fist and took a deep breath. Instead of overthinking it, he swung his fist back and pushed it foward until it came in contact with Peter's nose.
Mike and Ben gasped together as they looked at Richie impressed. Peter turned back to the curly haired boy with his hand covering his nose. He stood there in shock while he clenched his jaw. Richie used one of his hands to cling to the other. He hissed out in pain. "What the fuck, dude," Peter cursed. Long lines of blood slowly poured out of his nose while he tried wiping it away with his hand. "Why the hell would you do that?"
"Nice punch," Mike said breathlessly.
"Really, Mike?" Stan asked. "You're encouraging this?"
"Yes," Mike answered. Stanley gave him a look of dismay and shook his head. Mike lifted his hands up in defense, "What? It was a nice punch." Ben nodded along with Mike, still shocked from the punch Richie just threw.
Peter rolled his eyes at the boy in front of him, his nose ached badly but his attitude would never change. Richie tried stepping forward but Beverly jumped in between them. "Alright, you two girls," she groaned. "The catfight is officially over. I don't want to see you guys rolling around the ground and pulling each other's hair."
"I'm gonna go get some air outside," Richie announced. He grunted before walking past his friends.
"There's air in here," Stanley commented.
"I don't want your fucking air, Stan," he remarked. Richie quickly made his way to Betty's backyard with a bunch of other kids.
"What the hell is wrong with my air?" Stanley questioned, turning towards Bill. The stuttering boy rested a hand on his shoulder and mumbled a quick but sweet 'nothing.' Ben began following after Richie but Mike grabbed his arm and tilted his head to Eddie.
Ben caught on and nodded his head slowly while they went back to their friends. "I'm gonna go check on Richie," Eddie stated quietly. Everybody in the group gave him a smile and nodded besides Peter. Peter gave him a death glare as he followed after his best friend.
Bill stood by Peter and began telling him what to do. "Here, p-pinch the tip of your n-nose," he ordered while he grabbed his head and helped him. "Are you o-okay?"
Peter flashed him a wide smile and nodded his head softly. "Yeah," he replied. "I guess this makes me look tough, huh?" Bill smiled back at him and laughed quietly.
Stanley scoffed. "It looks like you just the shit beat out of you," he joined in. "Tough would be the last thing someone would call you."
"I don't even know why Richie did that," Peter told them.
All of the losers shrugged besides Mike. They all looked at him while he continued to drink the rest of Richie's water. His eyes slowly opened and he awkwardly stopped drinking the water. "He's on his period," Mike answered.
Beverly nodded, understanding the struggle. She stopped when she realized that Richie was a guy. Bev faced Mike while her face slowly scrunched up. "How does that work?"
While the losers all went into the discussion about periods, Eddie was searching for Richie in Betty's crowded backyard. He pushed through the sweaty teens until he found Richie sitting by himself.
Eddie slowly walked towards him and stood in front of him with a frown. "Richie," he spoke softly. "I can handle myself, you know? You didn't have to do that for me."
"I hope you know that what he does to you is abuse," Richie went on, "He already emotionally abuses you which is just as bad, but it's really starting to get crazy. He's going to end up hurting you- it doesn't matter if you're a guy. Just because it's a guy hurting another guy doesn't mean it isn't abuse. It could be a girl hurting a girl or a girl hurting a guy and it'd still be fucking abuse."
"It was just my hand-"
"And it was just him pushing you, right?" Richie cut him off. "Next it's gonna be 'just' a bruise or 'just' a black eye. I don't want to be around to see that happen to you. You don't deserve that- nobody does. Not even fucking Henry Bowers deserves that."
There was a moment of silence and Eddie had taken another step forward. He sat down next to Richie and let out a soft sigh. "Well," he whispered, "You still didn't have to do that. I could have taken care of it."
"I know you could have," Richie responded as his shoulder brushed against Eddie's. "But I had to do that, Eds. I had to. I just started thinking about how he pushed you and then I saw your hand. I got so mad-"
"No, seriously, Richie. You didn't have to do that," Eddie breathed. "I was about to break up with him."
"Oh," Richie said. "Well, everybody knows that I'm a dumbass, especially you."
Eddie laughed a little too loudly before shaking his head. He scooted a little closer to Richie before grabbing his bad hand and observing it. Richie kept his gaze on Eddie as he looked at his hand. A small smile approached his face. "What are you doing?" Richie blurted out.
"I'm checking to see if your hand is okay, asshole," Eddie clarified. He ran one of his fingers over Richie's knuckles. Richie winced softly but let out a weak laugh after.
"What's Peter's face made of? Stone?" Richie joked, glancing at his bruised knuckles.
Eddie had laughed again at the joke before looking up at his best friend. "Oh, shut up, Richie," he said with another soft laugh following after.
Eddie continued to check his hand and Richie had grown surprisingly nervous around the smaller boy. "I have been thinking and umm-" he stopped himself, trying to catch control over what he was saying. Richie shook his head before using his good hand to grab Eddie's bad one. "Your hand looks a lot worse than mine," he quietly mumbled.
The two put both of their weak hands together and compared them. Richie lifted his head and watched his best friend. "Yeah, I guess mine does look worse," Eddie agreed, he slowly lifted his head and made eye contact with Richie. They were oddly close, especially since they were just friends. Eddie held his breath as he slowly spoke up, "I know this might be weird to say," he continued, keeping his eyes locked with Richie's, "But thank you for punching Peter. It was weirdly satisfying to see him get punched."
Richie didn't break the eye contact, his heart was messing with him but he tried to cover that up. Richie chuckled and nodded his head. Once his laughter faded away, Richie was silent and stuck in the moment he was sharing with Eddie. He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to the tip of his nose like he always does.
Eddie smiled at the gesture. When Richie began to pull away, Eddie rested both hands on his face and pulled him forward again. He placed a kiss on his cheek like he always does. Richie grinned widely and felt his face heat up from the action. "Anything for you, Eds."
A/N: Hey, guys! That was the end of this chapter. I hope you guys liked it. I haven't updated in a while because of school, it's been stressing me out. Plus, this chapter took me forever to write.
Well, what did you guys think?
Do you guys like Reddie in this?
Do you guys like Peter and Bill together?
-I DID NOT EDIT THIS CHAPTER-
+OR ANY OTHER CHAPTER
Anyway, I hope you all have an amazing day and night.
xoxoxox