lol i'm not going to lie to you guys sometimes i completely forget i'm writing this,, like i think i've finished this book then it's three days later and i'm like oh! i'm not done!! haha whoops
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It's far into the night when Eddie first invites Richie over. The boys text initially stirred up a lot of confusion on Richie's end, but once Eddie repeated himself and said he wanted to see Richie, all was set into place.
Maggie was working a double shift and Wentworth was too immersed in his movie to even notice Richie walking out the back door. The two may be more on the laidback side of parenting, but never would either one let their son leave at nearly midnight.
A sense of rebellion mixes in with the anxiety that buzzes around in Richie's stomach when he rounds Eddie's house. There hasn't been snow on the ground for weeks now, so he's not worried about the crunch snow makes when he steps in it.
Eddie's window is shoved open, a dull and yellow light slipping out of the room. Richie didn't need to do anything to signal his arrival because a figure the shape of Eddie himself comes to the window.
"Richie," he whispers down.
"Hi!" Richie whisper-yells back up.
"Can you climb up? Like last time?" Eddie asks, both hands gripping the edge of the window. "Or should I unlock the back door?"
Richie takes a step back and runs his eyes along the gutters. He then lifts them to Eddie and breaks out into a smile. "Or you could let down your hair, Rapunzel."
He's not sure, but he defiantly picture Eddie rolling his eyes at that. "I can easily lock you out, Richie," he warns.
A soft chuckle escapes Richie's throat. "I can climb up, Eds," he says, nodding determinedly. "Yeah, just give me one second and your knight in shining armor will be right there."
"You're a fucking weirdo," Eddie laughs out.
Richie shakes his head and gets a running start before leaping up and catching the gutters. From under Eddie's stare, his arms become weak and he feels as if he can't pull himself up all the way.
"Come on, Rich," Eddie says, reaching out an encouraging hand.
With newfound determination, Richie sucks in a breath and lifts himself far enough until he could hook a leg up on the roof.
A smile crosses over Eddie's face, gazing at Richie with pride as the boy meets him at the window. "Fancy seeing you here," Richie says, a hand coming up to grip the window above their heads.
Eddie steps away from the window to let Richie help himself in, then closes it to keep the cold air out. The months may be on the brink of turning to February, but the winter weather is still there to stay.
"Are you sure your mom is asleep?" Richie asks, kicking off his shoes and pushing them to the wall.
Eddie walks over to his bed and takes a seat on the edge. "Yeah," he says, then takes once quick glance over his shoulder. "I haven't heard anything from her room in hours."
Richie gets up off the floor and joins Eddie on the bed, sitting in the middle of the plush blanket and messily placed pillows. The moment he stops moving he feels himself easily sink into the mattress, the foam hugging him.
"What the fuck," he says, stretching his legs out and laying down. Eddie watches him closely as he shifts around to get comfortable. "This is hands down the softest mattress I've ever been on. Now I know why you have so much energy to worry about everything."
Eddie's face scrunches up and he fully twists himself around to face Richie. "I do not worry about everything," he defends. "I worry about things that need to be worried about."
"Then you must think everything is worth worrying about. Worry wart," he teases. Richie reaches up to push Eddie in the side, to which the boy cringes away and slap at Richie's hand.
"Do not touch me there," Eddie says as he wraps his arms around his torso, protecting it.
Richie props himself up on his elbows and looks at Eddie with a suspicious smile. "Why not?" He asks, pushing himself into a sitting position. "Are you ticklish?"
"No!" Eddie quickly says, yet despite his claim he never dared to move his arms.
Easily, Richie caught onto this. He drops his eyes from Eddie's to his protected stomach, and back up again. "Are you sure?" He asks, reaching out a hand to test the waters.
Eddie pushes himself to the other edge of the bed, a wide smile forever on his face. "Yes, Richie. I am sure," he says, his eyes trained on Richie's hand.
The last thing Richie wants to do is go too far. Boundaries are set for a reason, walls are up for protection, and without knowing how high Eddie's walls are makes him nervous.
Within that split second, Richie realizes something. He realizes that even with these invisible boundaries and walls, Eddie is still there. It'll always be the same him, even if Richie makes a mistake. The two have come this far, waited this long, one simple mistake couldn't ruin everything.
So, he takes a jump of faith.
Eddie is fairly light, so reaching out and pulling the boy a few inches closer wasn't difficult in the slightest. The utter surprise of Richie easily moving him got a small gasp from Eddie and sent his arms flying to the bedsheets. Then did it give the boy a chance to tickle him.
Hearing Eddie laugh so hard and freely could throw anyone directly into Cupid's arms. Adding onto the fact that Richie is the one causing this makes it all that much sweeter.
"Richie," Eddie gasps out. "Stop it. You're- you're making my.. stomach hurt," he says, only to dissolve back into laughter. He leans forwards into Richie, forcing the boy to crane his wrists at an awkward angle and pause his tickling.
He doesn't retract his arms back, though, instead keeping them limply sitting at Eddie's sides. "Are you done?" He asks, still keeping his torso guarded even after Richie nods.
"What? I'm done!" Richie says, finally pulling his hands away.
The way Eddie's eyebrow creases slightly and fingers stretch out towards Richie is easily noticeable, but he tells himself not to think too deep into it.
Instead, he lets himself go back to the sinking comfort of Eddie's mattress, laying down and getting comfortable. If he's not careful, he could probably fall asleep and stay there with Eddie until sunrise.
"Do you want me to set an alarm?" He hears Eddie ask. "Just incase we accidentally fall asleep?"
Richie chuckles and adjusts the glasses on his face. "It's like you can read my mind," he says and Eddie smiles softly before getting off the bed and crossing the room to his phone on the table.
Richie keeps his eyes on him, watching as he stands in the middle of his room typing and swiping up until he lifts his head and asks, "What time should I set it to? I don't want you driving back home too early in the morning.."
"I don't know," Richie says. "Around two, maybe? It's a Friday night, I'm always awake with Beverly around two."
Eddie nods and finishes up on his phone before leaving it sitting on the table. He then walks over to the other side of his bed, avoiding Richie's curious eyes as he climbs on and slowly lays down next to him.
"Why aren't you with Bev?" Eddie asks. One of his legs are hitched up and a hand is messing with fabric of his pajama pants, something Richie watches to entertain himself.
"Her aunt is taking her shopping early in the morning," Richie explains, shifting slightly. To Eddie, it may seem like he's simply getting comfortable, but anyone with eyes could tell. They're closer now, arms and legs leaning onto each other.
Eddie doesn't seem to mind and neither does Richie.
"Oh," Eddie says softly. "Beverly's aunt sounds nice."
Richie looks up to the ceiling, his eyes studying the popcorn design as he recalls every nice memory he has with the woman. "Yeah," he agrees. "She's like my second mother."
Eddie drops his leg and rolls over to lay on his side, facing Richie. The other boy glances at him briefly, then stares back up at the ceiling. He's not sure why his heart is in his throat, he and Eddie have shared many other moments, some much more intimate than this.
Richie also rolls over, just to not feel as awkward. One arm is supporting his head and the other lays on the bed, useless and mindlessly picking at the bedding.
"This song sounds like a Christmas song," Eddie says.
"Song?" Richie asks, horribly confused. He lifts his head to look at the radio sitting on Eddie's desk, only to see it is indeed turned on. "Oh. I didn't even hear the music." He relaxes back into the bed and closes his eyes, focusing solely on the quiet music playing.
"It's Break The Rules," Eddie says. "By.. the.. Ruen Brothers? I've been hearing this song a lot."
Richie listens to the melody of the song and the beat of the drums. The farther it gets into the song, the more he has to agree that it suspiciously does sound like a well-known Christmas song.
"Just when I thought we were getting away from Christmas, it still comes back to haunt us," Richie says, opening his eyes.
Eddie lets out a soft laugh, pushing his smile into his pillow as he gazed over at Richie. He doesn't say anything to contribute to the conversation, to which Richie doesn't mind.
He's starting to enjoy silence, as long as you have the right person to enjoy it with.