#and richie paints his nails all the way through high school

[no-she-wasnt-reddie]

Okay, but hear me out... the Losers are hanging out together in the clubhouse and Beverly is over to the side painting her nails black and Richie jokingly goes over and says “do mine next” so she grabs his hand and starts painting his nails and then he ends up really liking it so she does the other hand and he keeps the nail polish on until it has chipped off completely before asking Bev if she can paint them again because he tried to do it himself and it didn’t look good and he needs help and I could write a whole book about this so I’m gonna stop myself now thanks

[thoughtfullyyoungduck]

can you do a teen losers club x reader on how they comfort the reader during a depressive stage

A/N: Sorry it took so long! I hope you still enjoy! I just want to stress that all the headcanons I wrote here are based on my own experiences with depression. I know everyone experiences this differently, so please know I’m not trying to invalided anyone!

Warning: mentions of depression

- It’s difficult to predict when a depressive episode of yours will be occurring

- There are no outward signs, as you are very good at pretending everything is fine.

- Inwards though, your mood starts the deteriorating and the smile you have to conjure up your face every time you hang out deters the closer you get to an actual depressive episode.

- The only sign that is noticeable to the losers, is that you’re a lot more irritable.

- That’s a hard symptom to spot though, because their group is so diverse and it happens from time to time that someone does something that rubs the other the wrong way.

- You’re always very patient with everyone, even Richie’s overachieving and at times insensitive jokes, but right before an episode, you’ll at best ignore them, and at worst beep him.

- But again, sometimes little fights break out among the group, so it’s not that unusual

- They’ll know that a depressive episode has started when you cancel without a reason.

- You would never pass an opportunity to bike around town with your friends otherwise, but during the first few days of your depressive episode (when you feel at your lowest because of the impending days of hell waiting for you), you prefer to be by yourself.

- The only way you communicate is by calling them to cancel the plans, and then you crawl back in your bed.

- The losers at first leave you too (they found out from experience that you hate to be coddled and Gavin the vicinity of other people

- Of course this saddens the losers, because they want nothing more but to go over to your place and comfort you to the best of their abilities, but they understand you need some alone time.

- They do call regularly. They can’t stop themselves from at least doing that.

- After about two days, they’ll start hanging out at your house.

- Most of the time they’ll talk amongst each other or watch a movie while they cuddle with you.

- Never forcing you to talk of anything, because they respect that you can’t conjure up enough energy to do that.

- Side note; the losers all have various experiences with depression.

- Some may not have (had) it, but they have seen someone near them that was suffering from it.

- So they try to encourage you through what they believe is the best option, and how they would have liked to be cheered up.

- I think Eddie would be a bit of a hard ass.

- Not that he’s unsympathetic to what you’re dealing with, but he’s a health freak, and he read that excercing can help with overcoming a depressive episode.

- Which is true, but going to school and getting you work done is hard enough without getting yourself out of bed and into work out gear.

- So he really tries to convince you to do yoga with him, as your form of sport. (It leads to Richie’s big gay crises, and it draws a laugh out of you for the very first time since you have been feeling dragged down)

- Sometimes you can persuade yourself into getting up (it really depends on the day) and then you feel elated that you managed to do something, but others days you refuse to move, and Eddie’s insistence only leads to insecurity and you labeling yourself as Lazy.

- But you know Eddie means no harm by it, so you appreciate his efforts.

- Bev does things a little different.

- She’s very intuitive to people’s mood, so when she comes up with a plan to help you, and she sees you’re not up for it, she’ll postpone.

- She manipulates your kindness and generosity towards others and turns it around to you.

- Showering and keeping yourself clean, though it’s advice to do in order to get better, can be so hard to do, so she instead asks if you can help her with for example: braiding her hair

- No matter how bad you feel, you’ll always be there for your friends, so you say yes.

- You’ll braid her hair or paint her nails, or give your opinion about a clothing item, and in turn, Bev will do the same for you.

- It’s not much, but, having your hair combed, or changing clothes sometimes can make a world of difference.

- Richie and Stan will aid with doing every day chores, like homework or doing the dishes or something.

- Of course Richie also cracks jokes and tries his impression on you to make you laugh, but he’s also really smart and can do his homework without ever paying attention in class.

- So he and Stan take some of the workload of off you, so you can focus primarily on your mental health.

- Ben helps by talking to you. You’re not always up for a talk, because it’s hard to formulate the mess in your head, but if you do, Ben is always the person to go to.

- He won’t try to find a solution, but he’ll just be there to listen to you

- Mike bakes a lot of goodies for you to munch on.

- You’re supposed to eat healthy food, but Mike chooses baked goods that are both healthy and tasty, and sometimes a little indulgent.

- Freshman year in high school Mike got a dog from his grandfather, and he’ll take him with him to your house from time to time, so you can snuggle with the cute little thing.

- Finally, Bill writes you stories about going on far away travels, with you and the losers as the main characters.

- You like to read them because they help you escape your current situation, and also because the stories are a kind of promise, that your feelings will end and that one day you’ll be able to go anywhere you want with all your friends by your side.

- It takes a while, but eventually the efforts of the losers come to bloom.

- You appreciate everything the losers do for you, and you hope they know that you would do the same thing for them.

[ghostnebula]

Let’s have some hurt Eddie with Richie trying to comfort him. Make me sad with all the feels 😢

Oh bby you KNOW that’s all I write ;)

The Losers are all supposed to meet at the clubhouse for family movie & game night (thanks to Richie’s transistor TV they can watch movies out there now). It’s a Saturday and Eddie is a typical amount of late. He always has to deal with an interrogation from his mom when she catches him trying to leave the house and they’re all kind of used to it by now. 

Except then he’s... late late. Like, they’re halfway through the movie and there’s no sign of him? Richie’s getting a little antsy because now it’s dark out and he’s imagining the worst (Eddie’s influence has made him an expert in catastrophizing). Is he lost in the woods? No way; they could find their way here with their eyes closed. Did someone get hold of him, the way Bowers used to? Even with him gone, there’s a little bit of evil and cruelty in most Derry residents, so there’s no such thing as total safety for them, especially not Eddie, who gets tripped in the hallways at school on a daily basis and who’s had to kick people twice his size in the nuts when they they tried to beat the shit out of him, and who’s had FAG and QUEER spray-painted on his driveway three times already this semester. 

So maybe he’s right to be imagining worst case scenarios. Maybe Eddie is dead in a ditch. Maybe someone finally made good on those threats carved into the benches at Bassey Park and the interior of the Kissing bridge, hidden in the shadows: “kill the homos” and “stick nails in eyes of all fagots” and other things, worse things, more gruesome the further you go. And maybe the way his heart is pounding and his lungs feel heavy is warranted, and so is the urge to go out there and find him, make sure he’s okay.

For once, he hopes Eddie’s been locked in his room for some trivial reason that only his mother understands.

He’s just standing to announce he’s leaving, all eyes turning to him, when the clubhouse door creaks open and Eddie’s favourite red running shoes appear at the top of the ladder, and Richie thinks that holy fuck he’s drunk on the relief that washes through him. 

Eddie hits the bottom of the ladder and everyone is staring at him, assuming he’s going to offer some kind of crazy explanation about why he’s late, but when he finally lifts his head his face is shining with tears, eyes swollen and cheeks splotchy, but he’s put on a smile anyway, a feeble little thing, and his voice is thick when he says, “Sorry I’m late.”

Richie’s across the clubhouse and standing in front of him in an instant, and it’s worse when he’s up close because he realizes the swelling around his eyes isn’t just from crying, but there’s purple creeping along under his eyebrow and spreading high across his cheekbone. Dark marks, like fingerprints, are scattered across his chin and jaw and down towards his throat, and some are elongated like pressure from the whole finger -- or maybe the whole hand -- was held for too long, and all around those are tiny bleeding crescents and longer, deeper scratches from fingernails. When he swallows Richie can see the discomfort in it, and his, “Hi, Richie,” is too taut. 

“C’mon,” Richie says, pressing a hand between his shoulders to direct him to the sofa where the Losers are lounging, and he’s shaking, just enough for Richie to feel under his hand, but he’s still keeping that brave face even while Bill moves to make space for them and Richie drags him down to sit with Eddie’s legs draped over his lap, half on top of him, an arm curling over his shoulders. He doesn’t have to ask to know. This might be the worst it’s been yet, and he knows they’re all wishing right now that Bev was around to help. She understands. She knows what to do, better than any of the rest of them. She’d know just what to say, not like Richie, whose parents would never, not even when he’s acting his worst. So what he says is, “It’s alright,” and, “I’m sorry.” 

He watches Mike’s hand slip slowly into Eddie’s where it’s resting on his leg and squeeze, and more silent tears slip down Eddie’s cheeks, face pressed to Richie’s shoulder, gaze unfocused. Mike can probably feel him shaking, too, and it kills them all to know there’s nothing they can do, because they’ve exhausted all their options, and all they’ve got going for them is that in the fall, they’re going to college together, and they’re all leaving this shithole behind and Eddie will never, ever have to see that bitch again. 

Eddie is eerily quiet while they sit there, Richie’s hand rubbing up and down his back, Stan pressed up close beside them. Eventually Richie grabs his other hand and curls their fingers together because Eddie’s own nails are biting into his palm and coming close to drawing blood. He doesn’t relax much but it’s enough. The credits roll on their movie, which no one is actually paying attention to anymore, but the quiet is tense, and finally Richie says, “You can talk to us,” but Eddie only shakes his head, biting down on his lip, and he’s too quiet; it’s almost scary. Richie looks at one of the bruises high on his throat and thinks he could kill Sonia Kaspbrak, he really could, despite his claims to pacifism and the little doodle on his new converse that says, “Make love not war.”

“We’ll stay here tonight,” Richie decides then and there, and there’s no dissent from anyone else, so when Eddie nods Bill starts delegating, directing the other Losers to go get the things they need from their houses, to get extra blankets and pillows, snacks and drinks, air mattresses and flashlights. They all ascend the ladder with promises to return shortly and then it’s just Richie and Eddie left curled up on the couch. 

The second the door closes Eddie makes a choked little sound and then he’s crying again, loudly this time, shoulders jumping with each breath, and Richie’s pressing kisses to his forehead and hauling him the rest of the way onto his lap, wrapping his arms around him like a vice, like he can hold him together. “I don’t wanna go back,” Eddie says against his shirt and Richie has to blink away his own tears. “She hates me. She hates me, Richie.”

Because even if she did love him once, so much that she was willing to hurt him to protect him, it’s gone now. Now that he’s embraced some vital truths about himself, even at the risk of his own safety. And this is the worst it’s ever been.

“Let’s leave, then,” he says without processing the thought properly. But he means it, he really does, and he doesn’t mean just the two of them. He means Bill, whose parents have been borderline catatonic since 1988 and left him to pretty well fend for himself. Stan, who’s father is just as bad as Eddie’s mother but in ways that don’t leave marks. Mike, who’s been the target of racism his entire life and who has to live looking over his shoulder with every step he takes. He knows they wouldn’t argue. They’ve already discussed it, albeit jokingly. 

They’ll pick up Bev on their way to nowhere and it’ll be the Lucky Seven against the world. They can manage with just the seven of them. They can find money, they can figure out food. They can get a cramped apartment and sleep on the floor, or cram themselves onto a bed so close together they can hardly breathe, and it’ll be just fine. It’ll be fine if they’re away from here and they can feel safe, and if Richie can know they’re all safe, can have them in arm’s reach at all times. 

“Please,” says Eddie, softly, breathing already slower, less like he’s verging on an asthma attack, and Richie commits himself to getting Eddie the fuck out of this town as soon as humanly possible right then and there, still holding him like he’s about to fall apart. 

“Okay.” Richie smiles a little and Eddie reflects it and it doesn’t look as strained as before, when he tips his head up to stare at him. “We’ll get you the hell out of Dodge. Get a nice mansion in L.A. Become rich and famous. It’ll be a huge middle finger to this garbage town.”

There’s a little puff of air against his throat that might be the beginning of a laugh. “Dream big, I guess.”

[mitchsmarners]

In Just Four Minutes | Chapter Two

“Ed, Edd and Eddy,” Richie cupped Eddie’s chin and shook Eddie’s head from side to side. “First lesson; Stop asking what we’re allowed to do, and start thinking about what we are capable of doing.”

Eddie cocked his brow. “I thought lesson one was you can be whoever you want to be.”

Richie tapped his nose twice then pointed at Eddie with a smirk. “No, no, my love. That is overall course outcome. These lessons are just getting you there.”

[or: Eddie Kaspbrak hadn’t planned on being an absolute cliche the fell in love with his college dorm mate, but ain’t that just the way. To add insult to injury, said room mate has a girlfriend … doesn’t he?]

“Hey, Eds.” Richie called over from his bed. It had been nearly two weeks since Eddie and Richie had become room mates, and Richie didn’t seem to much hesitation to settling in. His side of the room already seemed like a bomb had gone off in it. Granted, it had looked like on move-in day, but Eddie had let himself believe that it was because Richie hadn’t fully unpacked yet. Eddie’s hopes had clearly been misplaced, as Richie’s side of the room had only gotten worse as the days progressed.

It seemed, that in truth, Richie just owned too much shit. He had three cell phones, one which looked as though his parents had purchased for him in the seventh grade that was pink for some odd reason, a basic looking Android with a screen so shattered that Eddie was afraid to even pick it up, and the iPhone that Richie actually used. He had a broken in half skateboard shoved under his bed, and roughly 78 pairs of snapbacks though Eddie had never seen him wear one. Most alarming maybe, was the several pairs of bras that likely belonged to Richie’s girlfriend, though Richie had seemed horrified and uncomfortable when Eddie suggested that Richie just return them to her in order to clear out room in his drawers.

Eddie found the clutter not as bad as he would have expected to. He told himself that it least the mess was just Richie’s things- it wasn’t garbage or rotted food or anything disgusting. He could deal with Richie keeping clean clothes in a laundry basket because his closet was too full. He could.

“Eddie!” Richie cried again, dragging Eddie out from his inner rambles. Eddie turned to his room mate, who was seated on a giant purple bean bag chair on top of his bed. It was a compromise, from when Eddie told him there was no room for it on the floor. “Come look at posters with me!”

“Posters?” Eddie asked, pushing his laptop off his lap and moving towards Richie’s bed. “Are we allowed to put up posers? I thought we weren’t supposed to damage the walls.”

Richie grinned up at him. “We can put up anything on the walls, so long as when we leave it looks like we’d never been here. We can put up posters using sticky tact- then pray to whatever Gods we believe in that it doesn’t rip the paint off. Personally, I’m a fan of the Greek gods, you know? I’m big up in that Percy Jackson fandom. I just think it’s neat…”

Eddie raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips together to keep from grinning too obviously. There was a lot of things Eddie Kaspbrak liked about his room mate. He liked how Richie wasn’t that much taller than him, he liked that Richie seemed to have absolutely no upper body strength and therefore needed to Eddie to open jars and lift things for him, and he even liked how Richie’s hair never seemed to be the same kind of curly two days in a row. But he found that he especially liked how Richie could just… talk… for hours. Jumping from one subject to the next, throwing in jokes and sometimes not even knowing how he’d gotten to the talking point he was at. Eddie had never been particularly good at keeping up a conversation, and with Richie that was never a problem. And it was never quiet for long.

“Anyway!” Richie laughed, doing that thing where his voice jumped a couple of octaves for no obvious reason that Eddie could see. Richie’s cheeks always turned a little pinker after it happened, and it made Eddie want to reach out and poke them. “I was looking at posters, and I was thinking that like we could do some pride ones? Subtly though, you know… not a giant ass pride flag on the wall! Unless you want that..”

Eddie frowned. “Why would we get pride posters? I mean, you don’t have to do that just for me.” Richie’s eyes seemed to freeze, pursing his lips out and tilting his head a little bit while still staring at his computer screen. “I mean, I appreciate it, really. But I was like the only gay kid back home, I’m used it. We don’t need to go all out.”

Richie turned to Eddie and his smile seemed just that much more forced. “All the more reason to go all out! This is college, my man! Run down the halls in nothing more than your underwear and a pride flag as cape! Pain your nails or like… fuck I don’t know. But there’s nobody here to tell you who you’re supposed to be. That’s what’s so great about it. You can be anybody.”

Eddie could take back all his lists of things he liked about Richie Tozier: his overexcited and unconditional acceptance of anything and everything was Eddie’s favourite part. Unable to keep his usual chill, Eddie leaned down and pressed his head against the middle of Richie’s arm. He resented that stupid on-the-bed bean bag chair that made Richie too high up for Eddie to rest his head comfortably on his shoulder.  

“You’re probably the most accepting person I’ve ever met,” Eddie said, mouth moving faster than his brain. “You know, back home, I was The Gay Kid. Nobody else was out or anything. So like, everybody made this big show of being accepting of me because it made them feel better about themselves. Like, they are homophobic if they don’t openly treat me like shit. But they always made a big deal about accepting me for being gay instead of just… accepting it and moving on. Even my best friend, you know, but I guess Bill tried. He was just straight.”

Richie chuckled, reaching up to pat at Eddie’s forehead without looking away from his computer. “I grew up in California, so I feel like maybe we were a little bit more accepting. It was pretty chill to be gay, I knew a lot of gay people. My best friend is gay, and pretty much everybody we hung around with. The gay table. But anything more ‘complicated’ then gay or straight was pretty taboo. Which was… hard. I hated that shit.”

Eddie nodded. “Yeah, that stuff wasn’t even allowed to be talked about. Gay was hard enough for people in good ol’ Maine to understand. My mom sure like to believe in bisexuality though, when I told her I was gay. It was like bisexuality was a compromise, not it’s own thing.”

Richie rolled his eyes, and shifted so that Eddie was forced to sit up. “This is way heavy,” Richie chuckled, clearing his throat and scratching at his chin. “Big sad hours in the Reddie dorm! Have you been up on the roof?”

Eddie blinked. “I… Didn’t know we were allowed to be on the dorm roof.”

“Ed, Edd and Eddy,” Richie cupped Eddie’s chin and shook Eddie’s head from side to side. “First lesson; Stop asking what we’re allowed to do, and start thinking about what we are capable of doing.”

Eddie cocked his brow. “I thought lesson one was you can be whoever you want to be.”

Richie tapped his nose twice then pointed at Eddie with a smirk. “No, no, my love. That is overall course outcome. These lessons are just getting you there.” Richie dropped down onto his knees and fiddling around his bed until he pulled out a small metal box with a combination lock. Frowning in confusion, Eddie watched him type in the combination and pop it open. He didn’t understand what was happening until Richie pulled out a plastic baggie that was just a little too full.

“Lesson 1.5,” Richie said with a grin. “Participation completely optional.”

Eddie swallowed roughly, looking at the bag. He had seen his fair share of 1990s after-school specials. He’d made it all the way through middle school and high school without ever being offered weed, never even seeing it outside of television. He cleared his throat and frowned once more, before looking up from the bag and meeting Richie’s gaze. There was something in Richie’s face, maybe the freckles on his nose or the way his eyes danced behind his stupid glasses, but Eddie sort of felt like he’d never trusted anybody more. Richie would never suggest he do anything that would hurt him, Eddie knew that.

“Alright,” Eddie said with a soft laugh. “Let’s go. Why the fuck not?”

Richie let out a squeaky, excited noise and jumped up. He took hold of Eddie’s arm and pulled him to his feet. Eddie swayed slightly, stumbling towards Richie. Richie grabbed hold of Eddie’s waist and held him still before their chests could end pressed together and knocking them to the ground. Richie stared down at him with wide, almost panicked eyes and Eddie swallowed roughly.

“Is.. uh…” Eddie freed himself from Richie’s hold and took two steps back, positive that he was blushing. “Are you going to invite your girlfriend?”

Richie blinked then crinkled his nose up. “Do you… want me to invite Bev? Granted, she’d definitely bring her own weed so that would be like double if you think you’re going to smoke a lot but I doubt you will. If you’ve never done it before- you’ve never, right? I’m just guessing by the look on your face when you saw it but if you haven’t done it before, and you do too much then you’ll green out and that’s disgusting. You seem like the kind of guy who can’t deal with vomit at all. Stan’s like that, you know? Hates the stuff. But yeah, Bev always brings her own weed, it’s like my favourite thing about her.”

Eddie shook his head, frowning. “That’s your favourite thing about her?”

“Well. That and all the other stuff, obviously.” Richie said with a shrug, the blush on his face giving away his embarrassment. Eddie mentally added this to ever-growing list of things about his room mate that just made no goddamn sense at all. “Let’s go, Eds.”

Eddie followed Richie as he skipped out of the room, still shaking his head.

xxx

“This is the building Bev lived in last year,” Richie said happily, speaking over his shoulder as he guided Eddie up the set of stairs that he definitely hadn’t noticed before. “She, Stan and Mike got into one of those non-school funded buildings, one of the really nice ones by the Chem buildings. Apparently, that’s like the hardest one to move into so it’s really impressive that they got in. Stan and Mike acted all butt hurt when they were only offered a two-bedroom because they’d have to share, but that was before they came out as a couple- even though we’d known for months they were together- so it was all just a show.”

“Why didn’t you get a place with them?” Eddie asked, fiddling with the zipper on his hoodie. It was a little bit too warm to be wearing it, but Richie had stuffed the weed into his pockets so Eddie hadn’t had much of a choice in the matter.

“Eh…” Richie said, uncommittedly, with a shrug. “I have a full ride here, so part of the deal with the school is that I have to live on-res for my first year. It’s not so bad, though. I’m kind of glad.”

Eddie laughed in disbelief as he and Richie sat down crossed legged on the gravel roof top. He pulled the weed and papers and a small metal circular thing that Eddie couldn’t even begin to guess what it was, and handed them to Richie. “You’re glad you have to stay in some nasty college dorm instead of a fancy apartment with your best friends and girlfriend?”

Richie took some of the weed and dropped into the metal circle, pressing the lid back on and quickly grinding the top and bottom together. He finished, then looked up at Eddie with a small smile. “Yeah. Because if I hadn’t been forced to dorm, then I wouldn’t have met you, Eds.”

Eddie bit down on his lip, trying not to burn Richie with the force of the beam he wanted to let out, and watched Richie take the grinded up weed out of the metal circle and pressing into the rolling papers.  

“Okay,” Richie said, holding the finished joint out in front of him. “Sometimes I get… a little weird. So if anything goes… weird… just take out my cell and call Bev. She’ll know what to do.”

Eddie stared at Richie with wide eyes. “Weird how exactly?”

Richie shrugged, smiling sheepishly. “Oh, you know… I sometimes get pretty spaced out and drift away from reality a little bit when I’m high.”

“That doesn’t sound normal. Is that normal?” Eddie asked, hearing the nervous pitch in his voice. Richie just grinned at him.

“Nothing about me is normal, man. You’ll have to learn that. Lesson 0.”

Eddie chuckled and watched as Richie lit the joint up.

Eddie was a little surprised at how it felt. If it wasn’t for the way his head seemed to float when he moved, or how his legs would occasionally twitch out of his control, he wouldn’t have known he was high at all. Maybe his blinking was a little slow, eyes staying closed a little bit too long, but it wasn’t anything like the terrifying experiences that day time television show cased.

Richie hadn’t seemed to have slipped out of reality like he’d warned that he might. He was laying flat on his back, head resting in Eddie’s lap, slowly working at the second joint that Eddie had declined, and talking a good mile a minute. Eddie wasn’t sure what he was talking about now. It had been penguins at one point, but Eddie was pretty sure he’d just heard something about guitar.

“Eds… EdsEdsEds…” Richie was suddenly swatting his hand against Eddie’s nose and giggling. “EDDIE. Do you want to go get Chinese food? There’s this great little place downtown, it’s so fucking amazing, best Chinese food in all of Cali I fucking promise. Do you want Chinese food? I really fucking want Chinese food right now, dude. Fuck.”

Eddie giggled and knocked Richie’s slapping hand away from his face. “I don’t think I can walk anyway. My legs keep twitching.”

Richie hummed, letting his eyes fluttering shut. “You’re zooming, bud. That’s the fucking best.”

Eddie laughed again. “I’m what? What is that?” He asked but Richie was already flipping onto his stomach and looking up at Eddie with wide, hopeful eyes.

“What if I…” Richie asked, staring up at him, completely unwavering. It was the longest that Eddie had ever seen Richie make eye contact with somebody. “I can call Bev, get her to bring us Chinese up here? Then you don’t have to walk and we can still get Chinese food.”

Eddie hadn’t been hungry before, but now that it seemed as though Richie had said “Chinese food” about fifteen times in the last minute, he couldn’t deny that it sounded really fucking good. “Yeah, yeah, alright,” he said, petting mindlessly at the side of Richie’s face.

“Hey…Richie,” Eddie said because… well, fuck, Eddie didn’t know why he was saying it. Maybe he was way higher than he thought. Was weed like alcohol? Did it make just blurt out the most random of things that you should definitely never ask? “Are you in love with Bev?”

Richie blinked up at him. Eddie startled at his own question and moved to pull his hand away. Richie let out a pitiful whine and took Eddie’s hand and brought back to the side of his face. Richie didn’t answer until Eddie resumed petting at him. “I love Beverly very much…” He said sleepily. Eddie frowned, knowing that was not the answer to his question. He found though, that he couldn’t focus on having a conversation and petting Richie’s face.

He still petting Richie when the door to the roof knocked open. Eddie didn’t even have the chance to be concerned before he was seeing Mike carrying two brown paper bags of Chinese food with Beverly perched on his shoulders.

It wasn’t until they were walking back into their dorm room when the darkness had overcome the roof, and Eddie had lost his high but Richie was still slightly out of it, that Eddie found himself thinking about how Richie hadn’t answered the question. Richie came to stand at the end of Eddie’s bed and smiled at him bashfully.

“Can I get in with you?’ Richie asked, with a small smile. “Sorry, I get really cuddley when I start to come down. And sleepy.”

Eddie wondered to himself then, that they’d just been with Beverly. If Richie had known he’d want to cuddle when he got back, then why didn’t he just go home with his girlfriend? But Eddie was a simple man, with simple needs, so he lifted the blankets and let Richie crawl in beside him.

[studpuffin]

The Richie Diaries: Ch 1 

read on AO3

Richie Tozier was a grade A nerd. Thick-lensed, coke bottle glasses covered most of his face, his curly hair stuck out in a million different directions no matter how much he attempted to tame it, and the cherry on top was his braces.

One of those things alone would have made me a target for bullies, but somehow I won the loser lottery and ended up with all of them.

He rolled these unfortunate thoughts around in his head as he rode his bike down the busy streets of New York City towards St. Ann’s. Rounding the corner, he fell into pedaling next to his best friend Beverly Marsh.

“Hey Red,” he grinned, at her neon blue eye-shadow, “You know Principle Marcus is never gonna let you get away with wearing that color.”

Bev grinned, “Fuck the man Richie,” she adjusted her backpack strap as the pulled up to the bike rack, “Fuck these stupid skirts too,” she grumbled, pulling on the hem. They headed up the stairs, toward the looming wooden doors. Richie grinned seeing a small boy leaning against the marble column.

“Eddie!” he called out, waving excitedly. Eddie looked up and grinned, waving back. All three teenagers fell into step together as they wandered the massive halls of St. Ann’s. Suddenly Richie slammed into a looker and looked up in shock as Audra Phillips pushed past him.

She stopped, flipping her long blonde ponytail over her shoulder, “Guess they forgot to take out the trash over the summer,” she sneered, sauntering away to catch up with her boyfriend, Bill Denbrough. Richie slumped on the floor next to his locker and rested his forehead on his knees.

So much for suddenly getting cool for senior year. And so much for Bill breaking up with Audra and realizing he likes boys.

Eddie sat down next to Richie, “I hate them both.”

Bev nodded, “Major airhead assholes,” she sat down on his other side and put her arm around his shoulders.

Richie shrugged, “Bill isn’t so bad…”

“Bullshit Bill’s not so bad,” Eddie rolled his eyes, “And your crush on him is only making you feel like crap.”

“Whatever,” Richie mumbled, “You guys both liked him too.”

“Yeah in the third grade!” Bev shoved him playfully, “And Eddie liked him when we were like in kindergarten. That doesn’t count.”

Richie opened his mouth to counter, but the bell rang effectively silencing him.

“Come on,” Bev held out her hand to him, “Let’s get to class. We’ll hang out later ok? You gotta help me work on my proposition for the GSA meeting next week,” She threw her arm around him, “Were meeting at your place tonight.”  

Richie dragged himself home at the end of the day, wheeling his bike into the garage of their apartment building. He quickly climbed the fire escape ladder and pushed open his window, dropping his backpack onto his bed and collapsing face first into his pillow. Mochi, his ridiculously chubby munchkin cat, crawled up on to his bed and curled up next to him.

“He Mo…” he sighed, “You are so lucky you don’t have to be in high school,” Richie pulled the cat closer to him and sighed, burying his face in the fluffy fur, dozing off into a fitful sleep.

A few hours later there was a knock on his door that pulled him from his nap. He looked up, adjusting his glasses, “Come in.”

Wentworth Tozier pushed his son’s door open and came in, sitting on the edge of his bed, “Hey kiddo.”

“Hey…” he pushed himself to sit up.

“Rough day kid?” Wentworth asked, ruffling Richie’s curls.

Richie shrugged, “No worse than any other day I guess.” He stretched, “Is it ok if Eds and Bev come over tonight?”

Went nodded, “Sure kid. Want pizza? I’ll get pepperoni.”

Richie grinned, “Yeah thanks,” he shrugged off his uniform jacket, tossing it on to the ever-growing pile of laundry on his floor, “I’ll be down in a minute ok?”

Went nodded, rising from the bed, “Your grandmother called.”

Richie stopped in the middle of pulling off his beat-up high tops, tripping and falling on his face, “I’m sorry what? She’s been dead for like three years!”

“No…no kid the alive one,” he gave Richie a tight smile, “She um…she wants to have tea with you on Saturday. She has something important to talk to you about. About your mother.”

Richie snorted, “Why? She’s never talked to me once in 17 years and now she suddenly wants to have fucking tea with me? And what does she wanna tell me about mom? What’s mom got to do with fucking anything anymore? I haven’t seen her since I was fucking three years old!”

“Language Richard.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled, “I just..agh!” he hurled his shoe into his closet, “What does she even want?!”

Went ruffled his hair gently, “Go have tea with her. See for yourself kiddo.”

“Wait so she just showed up out of nowhere after 17 years and now she’s inviting you to high tea at the Plaza Hotel?” Bev asked, shoving a handful of M&Ms into her mouth and pulling Mochi into her lap.

“Yeah basically,” Richie didn’t look up from painting his black nail polish on his nails, “Dad said she has something important to talk to me about. Something about Maggie,” he poked his tongue out in concentration as he attempted to paint his right hand, “Oh fuck me,” he groaned, “Eds can you do my right hand?” he looked up at Eddie who was laying with his feet up on the wall flipping through Richie’s record collection, “You always do a better job of it than I do.”

Eddie leaned his head back to look upside down at Richie, a soft smile on his face, “Sure. Just let me change the record.”

Eddie stood, moving to the record player to change the song, the light from Richie’s fairy lights making the natural highlights of his hair glow. He swayed to the music pouring out of Richie’s record player, “I don’t know why you don’t just switch to MP3s like a normal person,” he teased.

Richie didn’t hear him. He was zoning out, watching Eddie sway to the soft sounds of Fleetwood Mac. He was suddenly insanely distracted by Eddie dancing, the way his skin seemed to glow under the lights, how his eyes sparkled when he looked at Richie. Richie felt heat rush to his cheeks as his stomach tightened as Eddie looked at him again, the same soft smile on his face.

When the fuck did Eds get hot? Jesus has his hair always looked so soft? And shiny holy crap. Since when does Eddie have such pretty shiny hair? His eyes are so bright too. What the actual fuck? Who let Eddie get so hot all of a sudden?

WOah pull it together Richie. Where the fuck did that come from?

Richie shook his head slightly and noticed Eddie was staring at him with a curious look on his face.

“Hello? Earth to Richie. Do you have the new Lana album?”

Richie nodded, “It’s next to the camera,” he nodded in its general direction. Eddie nodded and set it on the turntable, fixing Richie with the same bemused look on his face. Richie blushed, not breaking eye contact with his petite friend.

“What? Do I have something on my face?” Richie teased.

Eddie smiled and shook his head, “Nothing. Just give me your hand,” he sat down in front of Richie and pulled his hand into his lap.

Richie raised an eyebrow curiously as Eddie started painting his nails, reaching for a slice of pizza with his dry hand, “You’re weird Eddie Spaghetti.”

Eddie looked up and grinned, “Not as weird as you Trashmouth,” he poked his tongue out, redipping his nail brush. Richie smiled to himself, looking at his two best friends

Yeah, he thought to himself, Life doesn’t get any better than this.

Richie stood in front of the hotel, looking up at the impressive doors. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open talking up the front desk.

The young woman behind the desk didn’t look up from her computer, “Staff entrance is around the corner.”

Richie blushed, “Oh uh…No I’m supposed to meet my grandmother. She’s staying here.”

“Name?”

“Claira Bernardi?” It came out like a question like he wasn’t quite sure who she was.

The girl’s eyes widened, “Oh yes of course! Follow me.” She lead Richie down the hallway and into the grand dining room and into a private booth in the back. Sitting there was a beautiful older woman with long black hair, tied in a graceful bun. She was wearing a navy blue pants suit and gorgeous gold jewelry. Richie instantly didn’t trust her. As Richie approached, she looked up, eyes narrowing.

“You’re late.”

Richie titled his head down and laughed nervously, “Yeah sorry…I had school.”

“It’s not polite to be late Richard,” she gestured to the seat across from here and Richie sat, scrunching up his nose.

“Richie. Everyone calls me Richie,” He shifted uncomfortably as she stared at him, “So…why are you…What do you want?”

“I wanted to meet you. To talk to you. I have some news for you that’s going to change your life.”

Richie snorted and grinned, “I already have braces, Grandma. Can’t get more life-changing than that.”

Her eyes widened, “This is far bigger than your orthodontic work Richard. Do you know who Margaret Amelia Genevieve Bernardi is?”

“No…Should I?” He stuck a straw in his iced tea and sucked loudly grinning internally as she flinched.

She didn’t call me Richie. And she hates when I suck ice apparently.

“She was a princess in Genovia.”

“Oh,” he picked at his nails, “Cool I guess. What’s that got to do with me?” He looked up at her, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Claria Gave him a small smile, “She was your mother Richard.”

Richie laughed, “Maggie? Maggie was a princess?” he shook his head, “No way. My dad said they met in college and after I was born she got her dream job somewhere in Europe. She sends me cards on my birthday. She paid for my school tuition…she’s great I guess. But she can’t be a princess.” He laughed again nervously, “Because if she was a princess…that…that would make me a-”

Claira nodded, “A prince. And so you are,” she placed her hands gently on top of his, “You, Richard Simon Bernardi Tozier, my grandson, and my daughter’s only son, are the crown prince of Genovia.”

Tag List: @tinyarmedtrex@richietoaster @dyslexictozier @sunflowertozier @richietoaster @jem-carstairs-is-perfection @totaltozier @richardxtozier @reddie-for-anything @aizeninlefox @reddiepop

[tozier-boy]

Is there somewhere

Chapter one: Colors

Summary: Richie didn’t belong in boring, old fashioned, small Derry, that was for sure. Richie Tozier wore leather jackets and ripped jeans. Richie Tozier had his ear pierced and he painted his nails black. Richie Tozier wore combat boots and let his curls grow wild and messy. Richie Tozier always had headphones around his neck and sometimes he wore eyeliner. Richie Tozier smoked weed on the school ground and told teachers to shut the fuck up. Richie Tozier was tall and skinny and he wore bands tank tops. Richie Tozier was the reason why Eddie had started biting his lower lip way more frequently than he did before. 

Hey everyone! I know I still have my Hogwarts AU in progress, but this idea came to my mind and I just had to write it down. 

I’m not tagging anyone because there will be smut in this (there is already, kind of), so I don’t want to make uncomfortable anyone who’s not okay with that.  If you want to be tagged/added to the tag list, just say so :D 

(Each chapter will be named after one of Halsey’s songs, just in case you will be wanting to listen to something)

Any kind of feedback is appreciated and my ask and DM are always open!

“If- if my mom finds out you’re here…” Eddie was breathless. Richie Tozier was kissing his neck and fucking him relentlessly, holding his hips and breathing hot against his neck. “Oh god.”

“As much as I like your mom, Eds, you gotta stop talking about her.” Richie panted, squeezing Eddie’s hip and bringing his other hand to cup the boy’s face, stroking his bottom lip with his thumb. “Fuck, you feel amazing.”

Eddie clutched Richie’s shoulders as he felt getting closer and closer to his climax, moaning high and desperate like he never imagined he would have. “Harder, faster!” He pleaded, digging his nails into Richie’s back and dragging them down. “Oh yes! Right there!” His voice had turned a few octaves up and his hips had started stuttering in the attempt of meeting Richie’s thrusts.

The boy’s dark, chocolate curls were falling on Eddie’s face and their eyes were locked together as they panted into each other’s mouths. Eddie knew his eyes were open wide, because he didn’t want to miss the look on Richie’s face, the way he was looking at him. His heart was about to burst, he could feel it, because, as Richie came inside him with a loud cry of Eddie’s name, Eddie knew he was utterly, completely, deeply in love.

Five months earlier

“I just don’t see what’s the appeal, you know? A bunch of sweaty, drunk teenagers grinding against each other? It sounds like a punishment, not a party.” Eddie was putting his books back in his locker, while gesturing dismissively at Bill’s attempts to convince him to go.

Eddie wasn’t kidding when he said that he didn’t see any appeal in a party. He was 17, and he had only been at one party.

It had been more than enough.

After only three hours someone had thrown up on his new shoes and Mike had accidentally spilled beer on his favorite shirt. He had been grounded for three weeks and, to be honest, he wasn’t looking forward to it again.

“But  A-A-Audra’s going to be t-t-there!” Bill protested, resting the back of his head against the lockers.

“How is this going to convince me to go to a stupid party? She’s your crush, not mine.” He pointed out, raising his eyebrows. “Besides, I have a test on Monday. I have to study, and you should too.” He added, adjusting the strap of his backpack on his shoulder.

“I’ll g-g-give you 50 b-bucks.” Bill said, very seriously.

“I’m not an escort, Bill.” Eddie chuckled, closing his locker. Behind its door was standing Richie Tozier, and Eddie nearly had a heart attack.

“Jesus, Tozier! You scared the shit out of me!” Eddie gasped, putting his hand on his chest and feeling how hard his heart was beating.

“I thought the palpitations were a side effect of your crush on me.” Richie said, wiggling his eyebrows. Eddie snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, you wish.”

Richie pouted dramatically, but Eddie knew he was just mocking him. Richie and him had never been friends. Not just acquaintances, either, but they weren’t friends. They teased each other in the hallways, they bickered when they were in the same room, but they weren’t friends.

They couldn’t have been. They lived on two different planets.

Eddie was, alongside Stanley Uris, one of the best students of the Derry High School. His grades were perfect, teachers adored him and he was never late for school. He joined two clubs for extra credits and he would have killed for a scholarship at Harvard. He knew what he wanted, and he had his goals clear in his mind: graduate from high school, go to college, take medicine and become a nurse in New York.  He liked having a plan, it made him feel safe and focused.

Richie, on the quite contrary, was a living train wreck. He wasn’t stupid, oh, not at all. Eddie knew he was extremely fucking smart. In fact, Richie managed to get straight A’s with a upsettingly small amount of studying. He was always late, and when he wasn’t late he wasn’t at school at all. The first time he saw him, during their 9th grade, Eddie thought Richie didn’t belong in Derry at all.

Richie had just moved there from California, and that immediately lighted a spark of curiosity in the small town of Derry.

Who were these people? Why did they move from California? Can we trust them?

Richie didn’t belong in boring, old fashioned, small Derry, that was for sure.

Richie Tozier wore leather jackets and ripped jeans. Richie Tozier had his ear pierced and he painted his nails black. Richie Tozier wore combat boots and let his curls grow wild and messy. Richie Tozier always had headphones around his neck and sometimes he wore eyeliner. Richie Tozier smoked weed on the school ground and told teachers to shut the fuck up. Richie Tozier was tall and skinny and he wore bands tank tops. Richie Tozier was the reason why Eddie had started biting his lower lip way more frequently than he did before.

Everyone at school was impressed when he first came around. He was different from the people of Derry. He was different from the cardigans and the polo shirts, from the shirts tucked in the jeans and the brushed hair.

Eddie didn’t even know boys could paint their nails the first time he saw Richie.

“Are you coming to the party, Eds?” He asked, checking with his fingers if the cigarette he had tucked behind his ear was still there.

“Don’t call me that, for fuck’s sake.” Eddie hissed, glaring at him. “And no, I’d rather lick a gas station’ toilet clean.”

“What a vivid image.” Richie laughed, and Eddie wondered if he knew he wasn’t joking at all. “Come on, it’s gonna be lit. Bev knows how to throw a party.”

Beverly Marsh was the only person Richie really talked to. They were similar under many aspects, so anyone could have seen why they clicked together.

Eddie was still wondering why Richie bothered talking to him at all, since they were different under all the aspects.

“I’m sure she does.” Eddie said simply, and Bill huffed beside him.

“But this one’s different. We’re going to the quarry for a bone fire.” Eddie didn’t know that. He thought it was going to be a lame house party with fifty teenagers squeezed together behind four walls. A bone fire did sound nice. Nicer than a house party, anyway. He would have had room to breathe fresh air, and sitting in front of a creaking fire with his friends was a nice prospective.

Eddie glanced up at Richie, who towered over him, being the lanky motherfucker he was. “I’m going to give it a long, hard thought.”He said, and Bill almost squeaked by his side. He knew him far too well not to know he had basically said yes.

Richie’s lips curved into a crooked smirk, as their eyes were still fixed on each other. “Maybe I’ll see you later, then.” Richie said lowly, and Eddie tilted his chin up.

“Maybe you will.”

“S-S-Seriously, Eddie, w-what’s going on b-b-between you and R-Richie Tozier?” Bill asked. He was currently lying on his stomach on Eddie’s bed, flicking through the pages of a comic book distractedly as Eddie chose what to wear at the bone fire.

“What are you talking about?” Eddie frowned, looking at his friend through the mirror. “Nothing’s going on.”

“It m-most certainly l-l-looks like s-something’s g-g-going on.” Bill giggled, and Eddie turned towards him with his hands on his hips.

“Something like what?”

“Something like a b-b-big, f-fat, mutual c-crush.” Bill said, wiggling his eyebrow, and Eddie’s cheeks heated up.

“Shut the f-“

“Eddie bear? Where are you going?” Sonia Kaspbrak had opened the door to her son’s room without knocking, making the two boys jump in surprise. “Isn’t it a bit late to go out?”

“Eddie’s c-c-coming to mine. We’re g-gonna study and watch a m-movie, mrs K.” Bill said quickly, smiling up at the woman.

“And you can’t do that here?” She questioned, and Bill’s smile only grew faker and wider.

“I’ve g-got a new DVD.”

“Very well, but no sleepovers. You’ve got to be home by 11.30.” Sonia said, pointing her finger at Eddie.

“Sure, ma.” Eddie stood on his tiptoes and kissed his mother’s cheek, grinning sweetly.

There was no other way but lying, Eddie knew it far too well. His overprotective, manipulative, controlling mother would have never let him go to a party, let alone one with a bone fire involved.

Especially if she knew Richie Tozier was going to be there as well.

Ever since the Tozier family had moved in their neighborhood, Sonia Kaspbrak had been sulking about it. She didn’t like Maggie Tozier one bit, because “she smiled way too much” and “no woman was supposed to wear skirts that didn’t reach the knees”, but truth was Sonia was extremely jealous. She never had a valid reason to smile, while Maggie Tozier was cheerful most of the time. Plus, Maggie was a beautiful woman. She was tall and slender, had round hips and beautiful curly hair  that framed a regular face and pretty, big hazel eyes. Eddie knew every single man in town fancied her and that every single woman in town desperately tried to find her flaws.

Derry was not the kind of town where a woman could have been happy about another woman’s beauty. In Derry, women despised each other.

She didn’t trust the fact that they came to Derry all in a sudden and that no one knew why. She started speculating about the reason with Eddie’s aunt, and every theory was more ridiculous than the last.

Then, Sonia had to complain about mr Tozier and his “way too loud new car”. Mr Tozier was a dentist, which Eddie always found curious, considering that Richie’s front teeth were slightly too big and they were usually resting upon his lower lip.

Eddie always thought it was cute, because those teeth, along with the freckles on Richie’s nose and cheeks, made him look younger.

But most of all, Sonia Kaspbrak despised the loud, foul-mouthed, vulgar, punk Tozier boy more than anything else in the world and she didn’t want him anywhere near her beloved, well mannered son.

“Don’t eat candies or chips or you’ll get a stomachache!” Sonia reminded Eddie as the boys were running down the stairs.

“Yes ma!” Eddie called back, before the front door slammed shut.

It wasn’t terrible, Eddie considered. The bone fire had been lighted up and it was burning high, there were a lot of students around it, mostly from the 12th and 11th grade and Eddie wasn’t hating it. He had a can of soda in his hand, while Bill had decided to go for a bottle of ice cold beer. There was music, nice music, and Eddie couldn’t deny that Beverly Marsh had a pretty fucking great idea.

“This is n-n-nice, isn’t it?”  Bill said, glancing around the crowd, desperately trying to spot Audra.

“I’m not hating it.” Eddie conceded, and Bill smiled.

“Hey guys.” Both of the boys turned their heads to look at Stan, who was holding a can identical to Eddie’s. “Didn’t think you would have come.” He said with a tentative smile that was entirely directed at Bill.

“I didn’t think that either.” Eddie shrugged, sighing as Bill ignored completely Stan’s glances, too busy to try to gain Audra’s attention.

Eddie was well aware of the crush Stan had on Bill. Everyone was well aware of that. Bill was a handsome boy: he was tall, he had ginger-ish hair and a charming smile. Eddie could see why Stan liked him so much. Bill, though, despite his stutter, was more outgoing, while Stan tended to hide behind his books, like an admirer from afar.

“Well, I’m glad you decided to come. It was a bit awkward without actual people to talk to.” He said, pressing his lips into a thin line.

“Yeah, me too.” Another voice said from behind them. Eddie twirled on his heels to find Richie standing in front of him. He was wearing a black tank top and a denim jacket with some pins on it, black and ripped skinny jeans and his combat boots. Eddie found himself staring for a couple of seconds.

“You smell weird.” Eddie said, well aware that, mixed to Richie’s cologne, was the smell of weed.

“That’s what I told your mom last night.”

“You’re fucking disgusting.”

“That’s not what you said last night.” He winked.

Stan rolled his eyes. “I’m not following. Were you with Eddie or with his mom last night?” He said flatly, not really asking a question.

“Maybe both.” Richie laughed. Eddie shrugged past him, shouldering him but not too hard, and walked away. The last thing he needed was to hear to Richie’s awful mom jokes.

He just didn’t understand. Richie was a real fucking trashmouth, but he seemed particularly keen on addressing his annoying jokes toward Eddie. Sure, he was friends with Beverly, but he never heard him being so loud around her. He leaned his back against a tree, taking a deep breath away from the crowd. His mind ran back to what Bill had said.

What’s going on between you and Richie Tozier?

Eddie had no idea. He truly, honestly had no idea of what was going on.

He didn’t know why Richie bothered talking to him, he didn’t know why he bothered answering. He didn’t know why his heart beat a little faster whenever he heard Richie’s voice near him, and he was too afraid to asking himself why.

Nothing was going on between Richie Tozier and him.

It wasn’t that great, after all. It was just like a regular party, but outside. There were people grinding in rhythm with the music, people making out and people way too drunk to function. Bill had finally managed to talk to Audra, and they were currently kissing against a tree. Eddie’s eyes immediately went for Stan, who was sitting with his head down and Mike Hanlon’s arm thrown around his shoulders. Eddie knew Mike, he was in the football team and he was probably one of the kindest person he had ever had the pleasure of knowing. If Stan was with Mike, he knew he was in good hands.

“Are you cold?” It was almost time for Eddie to go. Last thing he wanted, was to piss his mother off and being grounded for a month. He looked to his left, where Richie had sat down. They were in front of the bone fire, but the air had cooled down and gave Eddie goose bumps down his arms.

“I’m fine.” Eddie shrugged, looking back at the fire. Two seconds later, Richie’s warm denim jacket was around his shoulders.

“There you go.”

“I said I was fine.”

“Your body says otherwise.” Richie ran his index finger over Eddie’s arm, which only caused more goose bumps. He swallowed hard, gripping the grass under him as he looked up at Richie’s chocolate brown eyes.

“Thank you. You shouldn’t have,  but thank you.” He said, wrapping Richie’s way-too-big jacket around himself. They looked into each other’s eyes for a couple of seconds, and Eddie felt his stomach knotting and then filling with something that fluttered. With the fire’s light hitting his face, Eddie could clearly see every single one of Richie’s freckles. He could admire the way his curls fell on his forehead and the way his front teeth rested on his lower lip when he wasn’t thinking about hiding them. Eddie knew he wasn’t supposed to think about another boy’s freckles, eyes,  hair and mouth, but when it came to Richie he just couldn’t help but wonder. He had so many questions he wanted to ask, and yet he was afraid of the answers. It was like looking at an unsolved mystery, and it fascinated Eddie beyond any measure.

“Anytime.” Richie replied softly, and his lips curved into a relaxed smile that made Eddie wonder if that was a perfectly normal thing to do.

He was even about to ask him that, when some girl screamed.

“The cops are here!”

Eddie didn’t even have the time to think or react. Before he could even look at what was going on, he was being pulled on his feet by a warm hand firmly holding his and then he was running. The woods that surrounded the quarry were not a place you would have wanted to find yourself lost in at night, but Richie seemed to know what he was doing and where he was going as he held Eddie’s hand and dragged him away. Eddie heard the music being shut down and then voices, loud voices and sirens.

He felt like he couldn’t breathe, but the last thing he wanted was being dragged back home by the police. He wasn’t even drunk, he hadn’t touch a single drop of alcohol, but she wouldn’t have cared. He had lied, and that would have been a reason valid enough for him to be locked home for god knows how long.

“Rich! Stop!” He panted, planting his heels to the ground once they were far away enough. He leaned his back against a tree and tried to catch his breath.

He hoped that his friends managed to ran away as well.

“Are you okay?” Richie asked as he tried to catch his breath. Eddie nodded, panting, and looked up at the taller boy with wide eyes.

“Thank you…” He breathed, and Richie chuckled.

“This is the second time you thank me tonight.” He pointed out, resting a hand beside Eddie’s head as he looked down at him. They were really close. They were really close and they were alone in the dark woods, and Eddie shouldn’t have felt as comfortable as he did.

“Well, you deserve it.” Eddie bit his lower lip as he looked in his eyes, then looked back down at the ground with a blush on his cheeks. “I was supposed to be home five minutes ago. Shit, my mom’s going to kill me…”

“Well, we better get going then, am I right?” Eddie nodded slowly, watching as Richie took a step back from him. “Come on.” He offered Eddie his hand, and the smaller boy frowned a little. “It’s mad dark in here, I don’t want to lose you in a wood.”

“Are you just looking for an excuse to hold my hand, Tozier?” Eddie teased, thanking the darkness that was hiding his blush as he slipped his hand into Richie’s.

“Shut up and follow me, Kaspbrak.”  

[spideyyverse]

Grease! AU

pt.1 | pt.2 | pt.3 | pt.4 |

Chapter: 2/7

Alternate reality where Eddie Kaspbrak is a boy from New York visiting the small town of Derry for the Summer and so happens to have met the greaser himself, Richie Tozier.

Characters: Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak, Beverly Marsh, Ben Hanscom, Stan Uris, Mike Hanlon, Bill Denbrough, Audra Phillips

Pairings: Reddie, Stenbrough, Benverly, (Possible?? Audra x Mike? Aromantic Mike? Let me know what you think!)

Warnings: Homophobia, swearing, underage drinking and smoking

Word Count: 1,676

Author Notes: Some chapters will be based on a song from the movie, I’m not sure if I’ll do each song but if there’s a specific song you would like me to include, let me know in my ask box!

Also, the losers are very ooc. I understand they’re nothing like the way I’m portraying them in my story. Please do not get angry for the way I’m writing them, it’s apart of this au solely and that’s not how I actually view them.

This chapter will be a combination of ‘Look at me, I’m Sandra Dee!’ and ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You’ ! Thank Jasmine for that decision y’all.

Also, the beginning chapters will focus on Eddie mainly, but I will have chapters dedicated to just Richie of course!! Also, I know there isn’t much dialogue, chapter three will have tons of dialogue and much more interaction between the characters! I’m sorry, this is shitty writing.

You know I’m just a fool who’s willing / To sit around and wait for you /

It was Friday, the night of the pep rally. Everything was going according to plan, Eddie was asked to be a ‘manleader’ (Although, he couldn’t comprehend why he couldn’t be called a cheerleader, just like the rest of the girls). He was sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the halftime performance. The brunette boy felt anxious all night, not in fear that he’s preforming in front of the entire school but because he could possibly be preforming in front of the boy he was hopelessly devoted to. All night, the boy scanned the bleachers for the curly haired boy wearing a leather jacket but never saw him. However, Eddie did meet one of Derry high’s football players, but he was no Richie. He was nice, don’t get Eddie wrong but nothing about him made him feel the way Richie made him feel.

It was ridiculous really, how can Eddie possibly pine over a boy he’d only known for three months? How much of a fool can he be?

If it wasn’t for the stupid promise he made for Richie, maybe just maybe, he wouldn’t be constantly longing for his warmth, for his touch. He wouldn’t be sitting around, waiting around for his greaser boy.

But now there’s nowhere to hide / since you’ve pushed my love aside

The crowd erupted in cheers, the final touchdown was made and it so happened Derry was the team who scored it. There was still no sign of the boy who wouldn’t leave Eddie’s head in the bleachers. Eddie could feel a part of him break but he knew he couldn’t let that ruin his night, he was sleeping over Bev’s house tonight anyways. What could possibly go wrong?

After a couple of hugs and ‘Great Game!’s from both the cheer team and football team. Eddie set off to find his new friends. Of course that didn’t take long, you could be five miles away and still spot the fire headed girl known as Beverly Marsh.

“Eddie! You did amazing out there!” Bev cheered wrapping her arms around the boy.

Eddie smiled back and waved to Stan and Audra, “Hey Eddie! We got a surprise for ya!” Stan smiled grabbing Eddie’s hand.

Eddie shot a confused look towards Bev and she didn’t seem to know what was going on either. The boy reluctantly followed the curly haired boy to the parking lot.

Meanwhile, the school’s greasers were smoking and fucking around with each other, “Alright! Guys, that’s enough.” Richie shouted over the three boys horse playing with each other.

“C’mon Tozier! Your panties have been in a twist ever since we got back to this hellhole!” Mike shoved him playfully but only resulted in Richie shoving him slightly harder.”

“Woah!” The other three boys shouted simultaneously. Richie only rolled his eyes and gave them the bird, “Fuck off.”

“H-here looks like y-you need it.” Bill tossed over a lighter and a pack of cigarettes towards Richie. Richie thanked him silently and nodded his head.

“Hey Tozier!” An all too familiar voice sounded.

All four boys whipped around to face Stan and his gang. Richie only rolled his eyes and took a deep breath, “What is it Uris?”

“Got a surprise for ya.” Stan yanked Eddie’s arm and pushed him in front of Richie.

“Eddie?”

“Richie?”

“I thought you were going back to New York?” Richie couldn’t contain his excitement, it was something about Eddie that always made him soft.

“We had a change of plans!” Eddie giggled.

“What about you Chee? I got some of your letters when I went back to New York to get the rest of my stuff!”

“I-”

“Ahem.” Ben scoffed behind Richie causing his face to fall back into seriousness.

“Richie? What’s the matter?” Eddie searched Richie’s eyes for some sort of answer.

“What’s the matter with me? What’s the matter with you baby?” Richie smirked. The other three boys laughed behind him.

“Rich? What happened to the Richie I met at the quarry?”

“I don’t know, maybe you should find him.” Richie laughed elbowing Bill, making him laugh as well. Except, Richie’s laugh wasn’t real. Anyone who really knew him would know that. Clearly, his friends didn’t see that.

Genuine or not, that didn’t stop Eddie from lashing out on the boy he thought he knew, You’re-you are- you’re such a fucking asshole! I wish I never met you at all!” He shoved Richie and ran off with tears springing in his eyes.

The guys were hooting and hollering, Audra shook her head at Richie, and Bev took off after Eddie; Leaving a Stan Uris with a tilted head and smirk.

“Got what you wanted Uris?” Richie growled after the boys walked away along with Audra.

“I hope you’re happy.” He continued.

“Come to think of it, yeah, I am.” Stan smirked and averted his attention to Bill who came back to retrieve his leader.

“Billy.” Stan said with a bittersweet tone and walked away.  

My head is saying, “Fool, forget him.” / My heart is saying, “Don’t let go. / Hold on till the end.” / And that’s what I intend to do / I’m hopelessly devoted to you

Eddie found himself crying against Bev’s car while she rubbed her hand up and down his back, “God, how can I be such an idiot Bev?”

She only shook her and continued to rub her hand up and down his back, “You didn’t know hun, how can you possibly? Whichever Richie you met back in Summer is the Richie you know. This Richie on the other hand, he’s trash.”

Eddie laughed through his tears, Now there’s the Eddie I know.” Bev smiled.

“Thanks Bev, it means a lot.”

“Eddie, honey, all men are trash. You can’t depend on them for shit.”

“I’m a guy.”

“Besides you! And maybe Ben. He’s a sweetheart.” She smiled. The freckled girl looked down at her watch and gave Eddie a sympathetic smile, “Hey, why don’t you go home and get a bit of rest before I pick you up for our sleepover tonight?”

Eddie happily agreed and gave her his address. He said goodbye to his friend and began his walk home. The silence couldn’t help but let Eddie think about the events that happened only an hour ago.

Forget him, he doesn’t want you anyways.

Don’t let go, he loves you.

“I’m hopelessly devoted to a prick.” Eddie sighed under his breath.

Look at me, I’m Sandra Dee.

After quite a bit of convincing from his mom, Eddie managed to get into Bev’s car and head off to her place for their sleepover.

“What’s the deal with the guys having to act macho all the time? It’s ridiculous!” Audra sighed painting her nails.

“They have to live up to their reputation Auddie, that’s just how it is.” Stan sighed pulling a bottle of cheap wine from his backpack.

“Hey Eddie wanna see something cool?” Bev asked causing Eddie to avert his attention towards her. She blew smoke from the side of her half close mouth. Stan only rolled his eyes and pulled out a cigarette himself, “Want one Eddie?”

Eddie only shook his head, “Oh no thank you. Smoking can kill you.”

Stan rolled his eyes again and blew a couple of more smokes before placing the stick between his fingers and popping open the cheap wine.

“Finally!” Audra cheered taking a chug of the cheap wine.

“Ever drank before Eddie?” Audra asked handing the bottle over to Bev.

“I had some champagne at a wedding once!” Eddie explained.

“Oh wow! Sounds like a wild night!” Stan sarcastically remarked causing Bev to throw a pillow at him.

“Here c’mon. Just try a little smoke at least!” Stan sighed and handed over his cigarette to the boy. Eddie hesitantly took the stick from him and inhaled causing him to cough.

“Right, I forgot to tell you not to inhale the first time you do it.” Stan stifled a laugh.

“Here, wash it down with this.” Audra said handing over the bottle of alcohol. Poor Eddie didn’t realize what Audra handed him until he took a swing of the cheap wine and grimaced.

“Bev, I don’t feel so good.” Eddie moaned, holding his stomach.

Bev got up and quickly led him to her bathroom. Stan bit back a laugh while Audra quickly cleaned.

“God, how did he manage to drink the champagne?”

You got your crust, I’m no object of lust, I’m just plain Sandra Dee!

After the whole ordeal, Eddie rested on Bev’s bed while the others talked. Their conversation was interrupted when they heard a honk. Audra, Stan, and Bev made their way towards the window and saw none other than their fellow T-Birds.

“W-we’re heading o-over to the dr-rive in! Wanna c-come?” Bill shouted.

“Guys we can’t, Eddie still isn’t feeling good and my folks are home!” Beverly whispered-shouted.

“Well, I’ll go then! Cover for me!” Stan suggested, climbing out the window.

Richie only huffed when he saw Stan making his ways towards Bill, “What’s got your dick in a twist Tozier? Want Juliet to come on down too?”

Whether Stan intended for Eddie to hear what he just said or Eddie had super hearing, he answered for Richie, “Tell them no. I’m not Richie’s object.” He snapped.

Bev and Audra only looked at each other and repeated what Eddie just told them.

Stan got in the passengers seat next to Bill and planted a kiss on the stuttering boy, “Thought it would just be us at the drive-in Denbrough?”

Bill only smirked and turned around to his friends, “Get out of my car.”

“The fuck Bill?” Richie rose an eyebrow.

“Did I fucking stutter? Get out of my car and walk!” Bill shouted a little louder.

Ben, Mike, and Richie huffed but obliged as they watched Bill’s broken down car speed off.

“He’s right you know,” Ben stated breaking the silence.

“What?” Richie responded.

“He didn’t stutter.”

Tags: @universal-gay - Thank you so much for your kind words! I hope you enjoyed this chapter love!

[lambent-loser]

He’s Pretty In Pink

Chapter 1

A reddie Pretty in Pink AU where Richie works in a record store and meets the cutest little rich kid he’s ever laid eyes on.

Word Count: 2064 

The familiar scent of petrichor lingers in the autumn air. The simple smell the morning rain has left on the surrounding damp sidewalks is enough to cause a smile to tug at the corners of the brunette’s lips. Richie Tozier is a man of simple pleasures. All his life he’s grown up without much, so he learned quickly to enjoy the small things in life. This makes him a pretty optimistic person by comparison to most others at 18. So even as the moisture from the weather seeps through the canvas of his hand-me-down converse high-tops, he smiles to himself, enamored by the way the rain can wash away the scent of the city, even if only for a few hours. It’s pleasant.

           He nods his head to the rhythm of the music coming from the cassette in his Walkman. Richie bought the device with his very first paycheck and he has yet to regret the purchase. He uses it daily to play the music he buys at a discount from the record shop he works at after school. The place is called High-Voltage Records, which Richie deemed a ‘bitchin’’ name the day he found out they were hiring. He’s been working there for four years now and he genuinely enjoys the job.

           Richie walks into the empty store and dances his way to the backroom without a care in the world. There he comes face to face with his absolute best friend. Richie met Beverly Marsh his first day on the job. He later found out the girl had been hired only a month or so prior to himself. One thing everyone needs to understand about Beverly is that she is beyond beautiful. She isn’t pretty in a conventional way. No, she’s confident with a glare that could stop your breath in your throat. Her hair holds almost as much fire as her gaze and her freckle spattered cheeks hold a softness that reminds Richie of early summer mornings before the heat becomes unbearable.  When he first saw her that day four years ago, Richie was convinced he’d found his soulmate. Now, of course, they laugh about it.

           “’Ello, Ms. Marsh. Top o’ the mornin’ to ya,” he greets in an obnoxious British accent as he removes his headphones. Richie believes he is a master of accents and impressions, but Beverly seems to think otherwise. He doesn’t get it and he will never stop calling himself comedy gold.

           Beverly rolls her eyes and finishes pinning on her nametag that has been decorated with various stickers.

“Okay. For one, Rich, it’s literally three in the afternoon and also… your accent is bad,” she insists for at least the fiftieth time that week.

           Richie attaches his own nametag to his patched-up jean jacket and adjusts his glasses.

“Oh, c’mon, Bev. Don’t be so mean to me,” he pouts with a grin.

They both head onto the main floor and Beverly turns on the blue and red neon light that displays to the public that the shop is open while Richie unlocks the door. The lanky boy sifts through the stash of music behind the counter and chuckles before picking out Duran Duran’s Rio album. It’s fairly new but both he and Bev have most of the songs memorized since it’s so popular. The ginger rolls her eyes at his album choice, but when “Hungry Like The Wolf” begins to play through the old speakers even she starts to sing along.

She and Richie have developed some kind of awfully choreographed dance to several songs including this one, so they confidently dance around the vacant store to the tune as they sing out of key. This is how days usually are at the shop: filled with smiles, laughter, and bad dancing. Sometimes Richie will even let Bev paint his nails or do his makeup while they talk about cute boys AND girls when business is slow. That’s another thing the two found out they have in common.

Despite their conversations, neither Beverly nor Richie have been very successful in their pursuit of love. Both are rather quirky and don’t really fit in anywhere. While life at the record store is good, this means that social life at school is challenging for them both. The only reason either of them is even able to attend the preparatory school is because an equal education initiative was passed five years ago that required a percentage of the student body to come from families with incomes below the poverty line. At Harrison Prep, these students became known as, for the most part, freaks.

Richie is good at dealing with things like that. He’s good at smiling through the insults and coming up with clever comebacks. Sure, he dresses weird and cracks a sinful amount of jokes, but he doesn’t see how that makes him ‘freakish’. If being a freak means being confident and having a good time, then he doesn’t mind the insult. He feels a lot happier than all the other students at school look.

Beverly is not as confident as Richie. In the moment she is witty and sassy and is able to defend herself just fine, but it’s in the days following that the words get to her. Sometimes Richie catches her crying in the backroom and he rushes to the convenience store across the street to pick her up a pint of ice cream. It’s a good thing they have each other because both hate to be alone. So much so that they made a pact that if neither were married by thirty-five they would get married for tax purposes.

School the next day is bad. Beverly is sick so Richie is alone. It’s absolutely boring and Richie can hardly stand it, but he makes it through the day. As he steps out of the school to begin his trek to High-Voltage, he’s stopped by an especially nasty brute named Henry Bowers. He really doesn’t get how he can be called a freak while this kid wanders around.

“Where do you think you’re going, freak?”

Richie saw it coming, but it doesn’t make it any less annoying.

“To my job, because unlike you, my daddy doesn’t buy me anything I want.”

Sometimes Richie’s trash mouth gets him into trouble. The beefy boy throws Richie into the brick wall of the school and pins him there.

“What did you just say to me, faggot?!” he spits.

Richie rolls his eyes.

“Does that ugly ass mullet of yours fucking muffle sound? I said you’re a Daddy’s boy, Bowers!” he retorts.

Lots of trouble.

Henry punches him in the stomach and Richie is down. He continues his assault until he grows bored with Richie’s lack of retaliation. He spits on him before stalking away. The brunette groans in disgust and sits up, wincing at the sharp pains emanating from several places on his body.

After gathering himself, he heads to the record store. He still must cover his shift after all, even with Bev sick. Business is slow, so he uses it as an opportunity to clean up in the grimy bathroom that he has grown quite fond of. The crack in the mirror and the scent of a cheap air freshener have somehow managed to become comforting to the shaggy-haired boy. Even after cleaning up, Richie is left with a nasty looking black eye and a shallow gash on his right cheek.

He returns to the counter and takes a seat, resting his feet beside the cash register. He grabs a comic book and flips to the page he left off on, adjusting his glasses every once in a while when they slide down his nose. Richie isn’t sure how much has passed when he hears the bell on the door chime, announcing the arrival of a customer.

Richie lowers his comic book just enough to peer over the top and nearly chokes on the air in his lungs. There, browsing the rows of vinyl records is the cutest fucking boy he’s ever seen. He’s got this neatly styled brown hair and these chocolate eyes that Richie thinks he might get lost staring onto. He’ll have to get a closer look, but he’s pretty sure the short boy has light freckles dusting his flushed cheeks. It must be chilly outside for his cheeks to be so red. Suddenly Richie is very self-conscious about the temperature of the store. It’s warm enough for him, right? He shakes the silly worry from his head and musters the courage to stand. Richie is naturally confident, but something about this boy makes his stomach churn with the same kind of anxiety you get right before your first kiss.  

Richie pushes his glasses up on his nose and makes his way over to where the stranger is browsing.

“Can I help you find anything?” he queries. This is his job after all. Nothing weird about that.

           Eddie glances at the store clerk. He takes notice of his ripped-up clothes, dirty shoes, and messy curls. For a moment, Richie thinks the boy is checking him out and he gets very excited before he notices the slight wrinkle in his nose. So that’s how it’s going to be. It’s only now that Richie pays any mind to what the boy is wearing. He’s dressed in short, ironed shorts and a pastel pink crewneck with a yellow collared shirt poking out of the collar. He looks cute in it all, but it’s clear he’s another one of the wealthier kids.

Eddie narrows his eyes at the scrappy clerk and shakes his head.

“No. I think I’ve got it. Thanks,” he mutters. His voice is dry and laced with a sassy bite. Richie rather likes the sound.

Richie may be too confident at times, but that also leads to persistence. He’s no quitter. He flips through some records and after a moment he selects one from a milk crate. He taps the small boy on the shoulder and in response he whips around, glaring daggers at Richie for scaring him.

“Hey, don’t get your panties in a twist, princess. I just have a music suggestion,” he offers, handing him the record.

Eddie takes it with a persistent frown.

“I told you I didn’t need help, and my name is Eddie. Don’t call me princess!” he demands with his hands on his hips.

Richie just likes him more and more…or at least he likes getting under his skin. Richie just shrugs.

“Well, Eddie Spaghetti, I just thought you might like that one. It’s one of my favorites,” he explains with a warm smile.

Eddie groans in response to the horrid nickname and turns away from Richie to keep looking, completely ignoring the glasses-clad boy. Richie returns to the register and watches the boy curiously. Honestly, Eddie seems horribly lost surrounded by all the music and it’s almost as if he’s clutching onto the album Richie suggested for dear life. After nearly five more minutes of aimlessly wandering the shop, Eddie finally approaches the register, setting Richie’s suggestion on the counter to be purchased.

“So, you decided to trust me after all, didn’t you, Eds?” he teases with a smirk. He leans down across the counter and gets really close to the short boy. “I promise you won’t regret it,” he purrs, pulling away to punch in the price.

Eddie huffs.

“It better be good if I’m paying seven dollars for it,” he grumbles, his face flushed.

Richie peers at him and then back at the register.

“I’ll give you the cutie discount. Five dollars please.”

Eddie’s cheeks are burning as he digs through his fanny pack and hands Richie a five-dollar bill. Before the taller boy can even put the record in a bag, Eddie snatches it off the counter and dashes out of the store, mumbling a barely audible ‘thanks’ on the way.

Richie watches him through the window and a breathes a soft sigh.

Eddie.

Beverly may be like a warm summer morning, but Eddie is like the hot midday. He’s running without shoes on and racing to eat popsicles before they melt into your hand and he’s the sun kissing your skin until the heat is burned into your very being. Eddie Kaspbrak is nothing like Richie Tozier has ever experienced before.

He has a feeling he’s going to be seeing a lot more of him.

Tag List: @delaina123  

[eddiekasp]

can we get some hcs for soft boy richie??

YESS HES SUCH A FUCKING SOFT BOY

(thank you @eddiesbadbreak and @stanleyuriis for some of the HCs ily)

- God, Richie is such a hopeless romantic underneath all the bullshit he spews.

- Richie is starved for attention and affection at home, which often makes him question whether he deserves that at all. So he craves attention so much, especially from Eddie.

- When they’re not bickering or joking around, Richie is so sweet with Eddie. But he definitely has to be in that mood. When Eddie is affectionate with him, calls him pet names or says that he loves Richie, Richie pretty much crumbles.

- Tbh the first time Eddie says “I love you”, Richie almost tears up because like… no one says that to him. It means more than anything because someone actually loves him and he loves them back and it’s all so amazing.

- He’s pretty sensitive, especially when it comes to his insecurities and his family situation. He totally does not show it often though, and the only people that know the true extent of how he’s feeling inside are Eddie and Bev.

- Richie is SUCH a cuddler, and often likes to be the one cuddled. He loves being the little spoon or being the one to rest his head on Eddie’s chest instead of the other way around. He loves laying with his head on Eddie’s lap when they’re with the other Losers.

- If Eddie runs his fingers through his hair, he melts instantly. He loves that shit.

- In general, he loves being taken care of by Eddie. He’s never had anyone take care of him before, so if Eddie ever acts that way it makes Richie so happy. It makes Eddie happy too because he’s always the one being babied, so he loves being on the other side especially because he just… cares so much and has so much love to give to Richie?

- Like one time Eddie packs Richie lunch for school and Richie’s like !!! This is what true bliss is. He’s smiling all day from this small gesture.

- It’s so canon that Richie keeps a spare inhaler for Eddie.

- Any time anyone laughs at his jokes it makes him SO happy. He feels awesome if people actually think he’s funny.

- Also if anyone compliments him, he’ll brush it off or make a joke out of it but everyone can always see how happy and mushy that makes him as well. He feels so valid when he feels like the people he loves love him back.

- Secretly when no one’s there, Richie and Eddie are SO fucking cheesy with each other omg. They call each other pet names. Besides the typical “Eds” or “Eddie Spaghetti” that Richie calls Eddie, he also very often calls him “babe” (which Eddie loves), or he’ll get real creative and call him absurd things like “Snicker Doodle” or “Cuddle Muffin” (which Eddie hates)

- Eddie will often call Richie “Rich”, “Red” or “Sweetie” and Richie dies every time he always gets butterflies in his stomach

- They go on cheesy dates a lot of the time: Stargazing, Rollerblading, even sharing a milkshake with two straws. A lot of the time though, the two like spending the whole day being lazy and staying in bed and eating junk food.

- Richie is super gentle with Eddie, but Eddie is also super gentle with Richie? Especially if Richie is upset, Eddie is so patient with him and will stay up comforting him all night if that’s what he wants. They’re just really careful with each other.

- Bev sometimes paints his nails and Richie really likes the way they look. He usually only lets her do one hand, though.

- Richie also loves when Bev puts hair clips in his hair to push his bangs back. She did it for the first time when making Richie do a face mask with her, but after Richie said he thought it looked really cute she continued.

- He even started doing it to keep his bangs out of his eyes when he was doing work at home. Eddie thinks it’s the cutest thing ever. Richie also loves headbands.

- Richie has THE LONGEST LASHES and SO MANY FRECKLES HE’S JUST SO PRETTY

- In general, Richie is actually so caring with his friends? I mean of course, he’ll roast and make fun of them to the moon and back but in reality they’re the most important people in his life and he would die for any one of them any day.

- No one would expect it, but he always remembers birthdays and anniversaries. He writes such long cards for all the Losers whenever it’s their birthday, talking about why he thinks each of them individually is awesome and making long lists of all the inside jokes they have together.

- He also is the best gift giver. His gifts are so thoughtful even if they’re small. He remembers what people told him they wanted months ago, or he gives them gifts that have to do with inside jokes. Things that only he could gift.

- Richie always stands up for any of the Losers without even a second thought. After Henry and his gang are gone, it’s rare for them to get bullied, especially in High School. If they ever do, it’s all verbal. They don’t really get beat up anymore. But if anyone is being a dick to any of his friends, he ALWAYS stands up to them and isn’t afraid to cuss them out, even if it means him getting detention.

- He also comforts them after they get picked on. Even underclassmen he doesn’t know. If he sees a freshman getting picked on, he’ll tell the bully to fuck off and smile so wide at the kid, telling them they’re okay!

- Tbh everyone in High School LOVES him. They think he can be kinda annoying sometimes, but he’s a genuinely good guy and he’s super funny.

- Richie is that cheesy boyfriend that picks flowers to give to Eddie. They also put flowers in each other’s long hair and Richie takes a million pictures.

- Richie saves and pressed into a book the flowers that Eddie got him after the opening night of the school musical he was starring in. His heart skipped a beat when Eddie brought him flowers and told him how amazing he was.

- As adults, Richie is so caring about Eddie especially after dealing with losing his arm. He’s so accommodating and supporting and just loves Eddie so much. After he knows Eddie is okay, all he wants is to have a happy life with him.

- As an adult, Eddie also calls Richie “Reggie” because of one time where another radio host introduced him as “Reggie Tozier.” Like you don’t even know how funny this was to Eddie. It made him tear up from laughter for like a full week after it happened, so to tease him sometimes Eddie will call him that. Richie acts like it pisses him off but he thinks it’s pretty funny himself.

- Richie’s the type of husband that comes home with flowers and is like “BAAAABE I GOT YOU FLOWERS AREN’T I THE BEST HUSBAND EVER”

- Holy shit Richie is SUCH a softie when it comes to him marrying Eddie and later when they adopt/surrogate children. Richie cries for half the wedding and then after they get their kids he tears up like EVERY damn day about it.

- He’s just so happy to actually have a family? For once in his life? Like HE built this. It’s HIS family. He gets to come home every day to such happiness it’s like unreal to him it makes him get choked up.

- BEFORE THEIR FIRST KID ARRIVES RICHIE CANNOT STOP TALKING ABOUT HOW CUTE BABY SHOES ARE.

- HE BUYS SO MANY PAIRS OF BABY SHOES THEY’RE SO SMALL THERES NO WAY THEIR CHILD’S FOOT WILL BE THAT SMALL CAN ANYTHING EVEN BE THAT SMALL??

- BUT THEN IT IS THAT SMALL AND ITS AMAZING HE LOVES IT.

- Even as adults Richie and Eddie always go on such nice dates. They never get sick of being together, especially since they feel like they have to make up for so much lost time. When they’re back together as adults it feels like falling in love all over again except this time they can actually be together and it makes Richie thank God for real.

- It’s so fucking important for Richie to be a good dad since he knows what it’s like to have horrible parents. He just wants to do what’s right.

- Overall Richie is such a sweetheart under all those dick jokes. He’s so fucking soft and good. That’s all.

[grownups-are-the-real-monsters]

Coming Out

 Eddie had known there was something that was different about him ever since the day that Beverly had sunbathed in front of them, clad in her underwear. And what popped into his mind, as he stared was ‘I wonder what we’re having for dinner tonight?’ As he looked around at his friends, it occurred to him that they we’rent thinking the same thing. No, their batting eyes, sharp intakes of breath, and parted mouths told otherwise. So Eddie tried to keep staring, just to make sure he hadn’t missed something. But Beverly started to turn her head and his time was up. He was immediately flustered and snapped his head back around like he was burned. 

Though there had been no time at all to put himself under the microscope to figure out what exactly that meant. Because being chased by a disgusting demon clown didn’t offer up much free time. Not that he thought the thirteen year old version of himself would be able to figure it out. The sixteen year old version of himself could barely figure it out. He had to bite his tongue last week in the theater to keep himself from audibly fawning over Indiana Jones.

He thought about telling his friends one by one, maybe at least starting with Beverly but that would mean he’d have to go through the process more than once. So he was planing to just to get it over with and tell all of them at once. He was thinking this all over while he sat in Bill’s passenger seat, his friends all packed in the back. And he wasn’t quite sure why but his thoughts were interrupted with what sounded like his mothers oven timer going off in his head. saying ‘It’s time! It’s time!’ “I have something to tell you guys!” He shouted, impulsively. He knew that he had no time to back out when the whole car quieted, even Richie shut up for him. 

Eddie played with his fingers in his lap and tried to think of something he could use as an excuse. “I…well I just wanted to say-”

The radio let it’s last song fade out, the previously soft tone was replaced with it’s bursting new song choice. “I’m Coming Out!” Chimed the radio in Diana Ross’s voice. The car went silent. Eddie took the leap, knowing this way he wouldn’t have to actually say it. 

“That! I wanted to say that!” He pointed his finger at the radio like a child. He felt everyone’s confused eyes and was not looking forward to having to actually explaining himself. But before he could open his mouth, Beverly started. 

“That....you’re coming out?” she asked, a small smile starting at the corner of her lips. Eddie could hear a pin drop, it was so quiet. So he just nodded.....profusely. And suddenly, it was ok to laugh because that’s what everyone did, apart from Eddie who was sure they were laughing at him. 

He was wondering if he could make the jump if he just opened the door and barreled out and was debating if the injuries were worth it, when Bill slapped his hand down on his back as the car rolled to a stop. “It’s o-o-ok Eddie. This doesn’t c-c-change anything. We still love you.” 

Eddie breathed a little sigh of relief and nodded. “So you love me anyway?” He voiced his paranoia one more time. Everyone’s faces seemed to look concerned before Ben decided to speak up. 

“We don’t love you anyway, Eddie. We just love you.” 

Eddie was touched and bit into his lip as he gave Ben an appreciative smile. The car went silent again until...

“Damn, we’re such sentimental bastards.” Richie chuckled and everyone promptly slapped him. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Coming out had most definitely agreed with Eddie. And it was pretty obvious, in more ways then one. There was the good. Which included, Eddie being a lot less mousy and skittish as he’d been in the last few months. The boy was practically glowing. He’d even let Beverly paint his nails, a creamy citrus orange color that was easily removed. It was easily one of Eddie’s favorite memories and he knew it before it was even over. 

~~~~~~~~

Beverly capped the polish and leaned back on the tree next to Richie as Eddie examined his nails. He glanced up at Richie, looking close to apologetic. “Sorry, Rich. That was a pretty gay hour we spent.” Eddie was still getting use to being out. And for some reason, he was still apologizing for it. 

“I can think of a much better way to spend a gay hour with you, Eds.” Richie smirked suggestively, crawling over. Eddie rolled his eyes and put his entire hand over Richie’s face and pushed him backwards with laughter. 

~~~~~~~~

Eddie smiled at the memory. But the obviousness of the situation was not only a good thing. There was a bad side that almost made Eddie regret even coming out. Everyone in the school seemed to just know too. He wasn’t sure how but he was sure it was not in the school syllabus that was sent home. No, he didn’t think that right by the parents signature the flyer read ‘And by the way, Eddie Kaspbrak’s gay!’ But it almost seemed plausible the more he thought about it. 

He scratched under his chin and tried to focus on his science project and not the fact that his partner was inching farther and farther away from him. He tapped his pencil before glancing at him, his name was Trevor. And he was biting on the eraser of his pencil, Eddie cringed as he thought of all the germs he was biting into. And maybe Trevor mistook his cringe as a look of interest, though Eddie wasn’t sure why...maybe he was just paranoid like all the other boys were around Eddie. 

He quickly pulled the pencil end from his mouth like it burnt him and glared at him. Eddie bit so hard into his cheek, it drew blood. He glanced up at the clock and tried not to let it get to him. He shouldn’t care what his frickin’ lab partner thought about him, but he did. And it hurt. He broke his pencil in half, the wood stuck out and snapped. “Shit.” He whispered and hopped out of his seat, taking note of the fact that Trevor moved to the side as he breezed past him. 

He marched himself to the bathroom, after asking of course. He slapped his hands on the heavy door, it swung open and slammed against the wall. Thankfully, no one was inside the blue and gold tiled shit hole. He gripped onto the cool sides of the sink and sighed. He mentally went through every occurrence within the past few weeks where some guy had purposefully hopped away from him. It was like they thought it was fuckin’ contagious or something. Eddie glanced up, taking in his appearance in the mirror. He spent too fucking long convinced he was sick, he wasn’t going to be made to feel like shit about this. 

He took another deep breath and marched back out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So I said to him- I says-” Richie starts out his story in some sort of greaser voice that Eddie had been known to call ‘A knock off Danny Zucko speaking during a trip through a blender’. Eddie chuckled. Richie proceeded to throw his arm around Eddie’s shoulder without a blink of his eye.

Richie had always been the touchy type but Eddie had convinced himself that when he came out, Richie might stop doing things he used to do. That’s just what happened, right? All the boys in school gave him dirty looks and moved away from him. But his friends, the Losers club, didn’t change one bit. Stan still corrected Eddie’s body to show him how to crack the baseball the best, Bill still gave him piggy-back rides, Mike still gave him boosts to reach high places, Ben still sat close to him when they studied and Richie still pinched his cheeks. Eddie had never been more thankful for that in his life. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Other people though, were not as thankful. In fact, they looked at Richie like the boy had gone nuts. Every time he put his arms around him or set his chin on Eddie’s head or squished Eddie’s cheeks, nearby students seemed to try and give him a silent signal. One that read ‘Watch out, He’s gay!’ but Richie never seemed to be looking back. 

So it was up to them to formulate a plan to warn Richie. Before it was too late. In Mrs. Roshner’s history class, a group of students voted Skippy Peterson as the chosen one. He was the one who supplied Richie with smokes in the bathroom during the day anyway. 

When Richie took off to wait for him, Skippy was pushed out of his seat and excused for the bathroom. He tapped his pocket, whistling as he slapped the door open to find Richie sitting on the edge of the sink. 

“Ah! Skippy my boy! Skipping class, huh?” Richie chuckled at the bad joke before gesturing for him to come over. Skippy shook his head and handed him a cigarette. He flicked the lighter in his hand and a reflection of red filled his eyes. 

“You’re close to the Kaspbrak guy, right?” Skippy asked, a little nervous when Richie gave him a heated look, breathing out smoke. 

“Yeah.” 

“Y’know...he’s gay right? Aren’t you worried he’ll think you’re flirting with him? What if he thinks he has a shot with you?” Skippy was fidgeting now as he was getting more and more curious and worried, on Richie’s behalf. Richie, shoved his lighter back into his pocket and looked Skippy up and down. 

“I sure hope he does. I’ve been flirting with him since we were like six. He could’ve had me back then. We could’ve been holding hands at recess if he wanted.” and then he spun out the door, leaving Skippy feeling dumb.

Skippy watched the door close as he tried to wrap his brain around that. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Richie hopped happily out of the bathroom and smoked down the halls like it was no big deal. He rolled it to the other side of his mouth and felt the warmth in his chest as he bounded towards his favorite place in the entire school to linger. But as he approached, there was a tall figure standing at Eddie’s locker, fidgeting a little. 

He stopped and leaned on the wall behind him as the bell rang overhead and people poured from the classrooms. Eddie’s tiny little figure came bopping from his nearby class towards his locker and that boy. Richie scooted to the best position so he could hear them but they couldn’t see him. 

“Hey, Eddie right? I saw you with your friends the other day but I was a little nervous to talk to you then.” The boy was shuffling on his feet and stroking his own hair like it would improve his looks. Richie rolled his eyes.

“Why would you be nervous Connor? I have those notes you wanted in my locker, if you would’ve asked I would’ve given em’ to you.” Eddie shrugged as he opened his locker.

‘Ahhh, so Connor was the boy band member knock off’s name’. Richie scowled. ‘And my oh my was his boy oblivious’. 

Eddie stood on his tiptoes and Connor decided it was the best time to drag his eyes up and down him, a twinkle in his eyes. And Richie wanted nothing more than to knock the twinkle right out. So he bounded over and threw his arm around the smaller boys shoulders. “How ya doin’ Eds?” He ruffled his hair and gave Connor his best ‘back off’ glare. Though, Beverly once told him that she could kick his ass at that. 

“Don’t call me that- Oh here you go, Connor.” Eddie handed him the notes and he looked like he might say something else to Eddie but then took another glance at Richie and decided against. Eddie pretended that Richie’s hands roaming on his ticklish sides were irritating, but he flourished at the attention. 

Connor gripped the notes and took off. “Huh, wonder where he’s going so fast?” Eddie frowned and held his books to his chest. Richie put his chin to rest on Eddie’s head and hummed. 

“Probably off to flirt with all the other boys.” He felt Eddie try and look up at him, his hair tickled under his chin. 

“He was not flirting with me.” Eddie furrowed his brows, that cute wrinkle forming on his forehead. Richie put on a smug smile and leaned on a neighboring locker. 

“Please, He had his eyes all over you, Eds. His flirting isn’t as good as mine though, Right?” Richie stuck his nose in the air. Eddie gave him a confused look.

“How would I know?” Eddie crinkled his nose, Richie sighed. 

“Because I’m always flirting with you…..is this not as clear as I thought?” Richie asked in exasperation. Eddie’s eyes widened and he started to chuckle awkwardly, trying to pass the moment by as one of Richie’s weird comments.

“Do you have the psych notes cause I left mine-?” 

“Eddie.” Richie interrupted him with an expectant thin lipped smile, Eddie clamped his mouth shut and looked at him. “I’m not joking.” Richie put it simply and Eddie nearly just dropped his books and ran. 

“Ok, you flirt with me but it’s just what you do I know you don’t mean it” Eddie ran his fingers down the sleeve of his sweater. Richie pursed his lips and shook his head. 

“Oh no, I mean it. I always have. Even when we were six and I pushed my block tower on you....do you remember that? Because that was hysterical, I think that’s why you didn’t talk to me again until we were ten-” 

“What are you saying, Richie?” Eddie interrupted him with urgency and Richie felt heat crawl up his neck and hit his cheeks. 

“I’m saying...we’re great friends but if you asked me to make out with you, I would.” Richie shrugged, explaining it in a way that only he could. Eddie took a breath and bit into his cheek.

“Huh.” 

“Huh? That’s all I get, Eds? Be a little more creative than that. Y’know? a ‘fuck off, Richie’ or a ‘Shut up Trashmouth’ are some gems-” 

“Richie!” 

Richie hopped back slightly, not expecting Eddie to shout. He tilted his head and waited for him to say something. “Give me time to have this sink in, ok?” Eddie said with a breathy sigh. Richie nodded. 

“Sure, take your time. I can stay away from you for a bit if you want. Give you some space-”

“It sunk!” Eddie shouted again and hopped up to Richie, hands boosting himself up from Richie’s shoulders. Their lips met for a few seconds, the best few seconds of Richie’s life. 

“You adorable little bastard.” Richie scrunched up his face as Eddie kept on giggling. 

For those who wanted to be tagged: @megelizabethvh @gazebros @deliicateloser @iammcclame @im-not-psychotic @thatonewhereshetries @okayscorbus @acidic-oblivion @spicyymoon--lovve   (I hope I got everyone)

[theperksofbeingawallflwer-blog]

Hold On

this was inspired by the song "Hold On" by Chord Overstreet and it's not the best, it's honestly pretty rushed and shitty but i really wanted to write it and post it sO

pairing: Richie Tozier x Eddie Kaspbrak

this is so long i'm so sorry

warning(s): suicide attempt, self harm, depression, SADNESS, crying, ANGST

Before all the lights and sirens and men and women in uniform came to take him away, Richie Tozier was lying unconscious on the bathroom floor of his and Eddie Kaspbrak's shared apartment. Richie was slumped against the bathtub, naked and shivering and wet. His eyes were closed and his lips were spread in a thin line, his hair draping over his forehead in a mess of dripping wet curls. In his system was a whole bottle of sleeping pills Eddie kept in the medicine cabinet, ones Richie would often find his eyes traveling to when reaching over to grab the bottle of Aspirin or Tylenol. His eyes would also at times drift over to the razors and blades also kept in the cabinet, his thoughts whirring in his mind - thoughts of the past when he would take the blade of the razor and drag it across his skin and calm that would wash over him when he felt the sting and saw the blood. But he never touched the razor for that reason. He had promised Eddie he would stop. He didn't want to disappoint his boyfriend or hurt him - that's the last thing he wanted to do. But nothing could top the hurt Eddie felt when he walked into the hallway bathroom and saw Richie naked and unconscious. He wanted to scream, but he didn't. He felt all the breath leave his body and he was shaking, shaking so bad he almost had to sit down. But he couldn't, he had to make sure Richie was okay. "Richie," he said, his voice sounding distant to him. He felt worlds away from his own body, he didn't feel like any of this was real. He was on the floor and crawling closer to his boyfrined, feeling like the ground beneath him was slipping away from him and he felt tears beginning to crowd his sight. "Richie, wake up." He sat in front of Richie, his hands on the boy's cheeks and the pads of his thumbs ghosting over his boyfriend's lips and cheeks and eyelids. Eddie sat there and cried and tried to wake Richie up, but he couldn't. He shook him and called his name and tried opening his eyes. Richie never woke up. And then Eddie grabbed the towel from the towel rack and brought it down to cover richie, wrapping it around his lower half. That's when he saw the empty pill bottle and a shock ran through him, his mind going haywire with thoughts and the fact that Richie was never getting better like he said. Eddie truly thought he was.                                           ____________ Eddie knew about Richie's self harm before they were dating. While hanging out with the losers, Eddie would notice the scars on Richie's arm and he'd sometimes notice that they're bleeding, but he kept his mouth shut. He talked to Bev about it, who said she noticed it too. "Should I say something about it?" he asked her as they sat on the sidewalk outside the arcade that night, waiting for Ben to come pick Bev up. "I say you should just ask him if something's wrong and if he's okay," she replied. "Asking him upfront about it would probably just make him mad." "But... I want to ask him upfront about it," Eddie says, frustrated. He really didn't want to beat around the bush about this. He was terrified for Richie, and everytime he thought about those marks on his arm, he felt something inside him deflate. He felt his heart sinking and he wanted to push the image of Richie's arm, all cut up and horrid looking, out his mind. "You care about him a lot, don't you?" Bev asked quietly, moving closer to Eddie and letting her head fall upon his shoulder. The boy nodded. "We all care about him. But we know you care the most." And Eddie did care the most, but at the time Richie didn't know that. He had no idea Eddie had the feelings he had for him. They were really close, though. Maybe the closest out of the group. They would be seen holding hands and lying on one another and having silent conversations. Richie loved to hold Eddie in his arms and play with his hair and Eddie loved it so much, but Richie would never know just how safe that made Eddie feel. And Eddie would never know just how happy it made Richie felt when he would kiss the top of the taller boy's head, pulling him closer into his body. They were close, so close that Eddie, for the next few weeks, couldn't help but ask himself how he didn't notice Richie's self harm before. Eddie would lie in bed for days, asking himself: Why would he do it? How did I not notice before? Is he trying to kill himself? Eddie knew Richie's life at home with his parents was really bad, so he thought maybe they were one reason for him hurting himself. But what else? Richie has to be bottling up a lot of other things, holding things in and keeping stuff to himself. Eddie waited weeks to ask Richie about the scars and cuts on his arm. And each week, he'd mentally punch himself for not saying anything. Each day he went without asking Richie or talking to him about him, he wanted to kick himself hard in the ass. It was getting worse and Eddie saw, but he didn't know what to say. Until the one night, when Richie stayed over at Eddie's house. Earlier that day, Richie had practically begged to stay with Eddie for the weekend. Things at home were getting worse and Richie feared he wouldn't be able to go back. He had planned on running away, but decided to wait a while, and instead stay with Eddie, where he felt the most safe. Eddie, of course, said he could stay as long as he wanted. He saw the bruises adoring Richie's skin and he felt hot rage bubbling up inside him and all he wanted to do was kill Richie's parents. He was so angry, but he wasn't going to let Richie know that. That night, they sat on Eddie's bed with Eddie's mom's nail polish, taking turns painting each other's nails. Eddie liked the way nail polish looked on his nails and he knew his mother would be furious (her son wearing nail polish? Having Richie stay over?), but he kind of just said "fuck it". Richie loved the idea of Eddie painting his nails, it wouldn't be his first time wearing nail polish. "I think I'm gonna run away, Eds," Richie said quietly as he sat in front of Eddie, hands on the other boy's lap as he painted Richie's nails. Richie kept his eyes on the dark blue varnish as it was being applied onto his fingernails. "I don't think I can stay here anymore." Eddie looked up at the boy, his heart beating fast. "Where would you go?" he asked, clearing his throat a little. "You can't just run away and not have somewhere to go. A destination." "I don't know..." Richie said, shaking his head. "I just wanna get away from here. I fucking hate this place. I don't care where I end up." Eddie looked back down at Richie's nails, trying to carefully paint them and not get any polish on his skin. "I care," Eddie said after a few moments of silence. Richie looked up to face him. "I mean, we all do. The losers. Me. I just care a little bit more than them..." Richie said nothing to that and for the rest of Eddie painting his nails, they were quiet. When Eddie was finished, he sat the bottle of nail polish down and reach out for Richie's hands again, holding them in his own and rubbing the pads of his thumbs over Richie's bruised and cut knuckles. Richie watched Eddie silently, his breath hitched in his throat and his heart pumping wildly in his chest. And then Eddie kissed his knuckles, each one he kissed tenderly and softly, each kiss lingering and causing Richie to practically turn into jelly. And then it was Richie's turn to paint Eddie's nails. Eddie handed Richie the bottle of nail polish and as Richie was reaching out to take it, Eddie slowly grabbed ahold of his wrist and turned it over. Richie didn't pull back, he just stared at Eddie with wide eyes. Eddie kept his eyes on Richie's as he pushed the sleeve of Richie's sweater up, scared to look down and see what he knew was there. He eventually let his eyes travel down and as soon as he saw the cuts, some deep, some not so deep, and some fresh, some old. Eddie's eyes were suddenly flooded with tears as he ran his fingers over the older cuts and let his thumb ghost over the newer ones. He looked back up at Richie, who was trying to hold back tears. "You weren't supposed to see those," Richie said quietly, so quietly that Eddie almost din't hear him. Richie pulled his arm away and his sleeve down. "We've all seen them, Rich," Eddie said, using the sleeve of his shirt to wipe away tears. "You know you can talk to us about anything. You can talk to me... about anything." Richie had pulled back intp himself now, his knees up to his chest and his arms wrapped aroung them. He had his face burried into the space between his knees and his figure was shaking as Eddie watched him. Eddie got up from his spot on the bed and walked around to Richie's side, taking the seat next to him. He pulled the sobbing boy into his chest and held him. "Shh... you'll be okay, Richie," Eddie whispered into Richie's ear, brushing the hair away from his face and kissing his forehead. "You'll be okay."                                               ____________ When they started dating, Eddie made Richie promise to not hurt himself. "I know that's a lot to ask and it's gonna be really hard," Eddie told Richie. "But I don't want you hurting yourself, babe. You're stronger than this, okay? We can get through this." Richie promised. And he tried to keep that promise. But when something at home happened, he couldn't help but take the blade out from its hiding spot and drag it across his skin. He'd tell Eddie, though, because he felt guilty for breaking the promise. Eddie wouldn't get mad because he understood. He would tell Richie that it's okay and he can still try again. This went on for the rest of high school and Richie's depression was so bad, to the point where he once tried to kill himself. He left a note with Bev and told her to read it once he left. She did read it and the first thing she did was call Eddie and then the others and they went after richie, finding him at the barrens, with a bottle of alcohol and some pills by his side. He stayed in the hospital for a day or two and after that, he went to counseling sessions. They lasted for a year, the counseling sessions. Richie had felt better after a year of seeing someone for his problems. He had stopped hurting himself and he was in a better headspace by the time they had all graduated. Entering college, Richie and Eddie had agreed to buy an apartment together and they were both accepted into the same school. Honestly, things were going okay for Richie and Eddie was beyond proud. He was happy that Richie was happy and getting better and he couldn't ask for anything more.                                              ________________ Two years. Richie was good for two years. And then tonight happens. The paramedics came and took Richie away, leaving Eddie alone, on the front steps of the apartment building. He was hysterical and the men in uniform told him he had to calm down in order to ride in the ambulance with Richie. Luckily, Ben and Bev showed up, after getting a call from Eddie not so long ago. Bev rushed over to Eddie on the front steps, letting him fall apart in her arms. Ben was the one who ended up in the ambulance with Richie, Bev told him that her and Eddie would meet them at the hospital once Eddie was calmed down. They sat there long after the police and ambulances were gone, Eddie with his head in Bev's lap and Bev's fingers combing through Eddie's hair soothingly. "I called Mike, Stan, and Bill," Bev said quietly. "They're on their way to the hospital right now." Eddie, who's stopped crying, sits up and wipes his face. His eyes are red and puffy and Bev reaches out to wipe thr wetness off his face with the sleeve of her hoodie. "We should go to the hospital now," Eddie says. "Are you sure?" Bev asks, already standing up. Eddie stands up too and nods in response. Eddie grabs the key to the apartment and his hoodie before leaving out the front door, Bev right behind him. He shuts the door and locks it and they both walk out to Bev's car, getting inside once it's unlocked. For the first few moments in the car, it's quiet, and Bev isn't sure whether she should put on some music or not. Eddie keeps his eyes trained on the world outside the window and that's when it hits him. "He didn't leave a note," Eddie says quietly to himself. Bev almost doesn't hear him. "He didn't leave a note saying why he did it... I don't know why he did it." "Eddie..." Bev started, pausing to sigh. "Eddie, Richie hasn't been doing too great mentally." "What do you mean?" Eddie's head turns quickly, looking over to see Bev watching the road with sad eyes. "I mean, Richie's been having really bad depressive episodes," Bev said, almost hesitantly. "He wouldn't tell you, even when I told him to. I never told you because I didn't think it was my place. And when he would bring up hurting himself or worse, I talked him out of it and made sure he wasn't going to do it." Eddie said nothing after that. He bit the inside of his cheek, a mixture of emotions taking over him. He was scared and sad and fucking angry. All he wanted was for Richie to be okay and for things to get better. He wanted Richie to get better. Richie told Bev about his depressive episodes, but not Eddie. And while Eddie is upset about it, he couldn't be mad at Bev or Richie. Bev was the most trustworthy person ever and Eddie understood Richie confiding in her. But it still stung because Eddie wanted to be the one Richie could tell anything to. "He was scared of you finding out," Bev said after a few moments. "He didn't want you to think anything was wrong, Eddie." "But something was wrong, Bev," Eddie said, close to tears again. "You should've told me. I should've known or done something... and now look where we are." Bev said somthing else, but Eddie blocked her out because at that moment, they were pulling up outside the hospital. Eddie didn't give Bev any time to stop the car, he hopped out as soon as they were close enough to the entrance. He got out and slammed the door, ignoring Bev, and marched through the entrance and through the doors, freezing once he was inside the hospital. He let his eyes roam wildly around the place. his eyes searching for something or someone. And then they landed on the group of familiar people huddled together in the corner of the waiting room. He rushed over to them and they broke away from their huddle as soon as they saw him coming, standing up from their seats and walking toward him. "Hey, Eds," Mike greeted him first. "Hey guys," Eddie said quietly, trying to smile but failing. He turned to face Ben, who was staring at him with sad eyes. "Where did they take him?" "He's, uh, back there with the doctors and nurses," Ben said. "How about you take a seat and I'll go get you some coffee or-" "I'm fine," Eddie says. He walks over to take a seat in one of the many lined up against the wall, the others following him. No one knew what to say, so everyone was quiet as they sat and waited. Bev came in and found them about five minutes later, taking a seat next to Ben. Eddie noticed Bev was crying on Ben's shoulder and then he turned to look at the rest of his friends, noticing how on edge and nervous and scared they all look. He was sitting kind of far away from them, biting on his nails. But then it hit him that he wasn't the only one affected by this. The rest of the losers cared about Richie just as much as Eddie - they were suffering too. Eddie stood up and walked over to sit in the chair next to Mike, taking the boy's hand in his own and leaning over so his head was on his shoulder, the armrest on the chair digging into his side. Eddie didn't care, though. He needed the comfort of the people who have been there for him always. It felt like forever as time ticked by and everyone waited anxiously to know if Richie was okay or not. Eddie was drifting in and out of sleep, head in the lap of Mike Hanlon, who ran his fingers soothingly through his hair - like Richie would when he was stressed. As Eddie drifted in and out of sleep, it sometimed felt like Richie's fingers raking through his hair. Hours went by and everyone had snacks from the vending machine, stress eating. Eddie couldn't eat, though, because if he did, he'd probably throw it right back up. He did get a Mountain Dew to drink, though. He needed it to keep him awake. Half of the losers were asleep when the doctor came out, calling for the family of Richard Tozier. Eddie and Bill woke them up as they stood up quickly, the doctor approaching them. "You're all the family of Richard Tozier?" The doctor asked them, raising an eyebrow. "We're his friends," Bill spoke up. "I'm his boyfriend," Eddie said, his voice shaking. "Okay," the doctor said, nodding. "Well Richie... Richie is alive." A sigh of relief came from everyone and a small smile appeared on Eddie's face. There were fresh tears in his eyes. "We put him in a room, upstairs," the doctor said. "Only one person is allowed in there right now." "He'll go first," Bill said, nudging Eddie forward a little. Before the doctor (Doctor Myers) led Eddie upstairs to Richie's room, he told Eddie that Richie is still super drowsy from the pills and he probably won't wake up for another few hours or so. It felt like the longest walk of Eddie's life as they went down numorous hallways and an elevator. But they finally made it to the third floor. When they reached Richie's room, the doctor knocked and upon hearing nothing, opened the door and walked in, Eddie following slowly behind. Richie was asleep, his hair a mess of curls upon the pillow. He looked paler than ever and it was weird for Eddie to see him without his glasses. It was also weird to see him so still and not talking, being that all Richie did was talk and move around nonstop. "I'll leave you two be. Let the nurses know if you need anything," Doctor Myers said, leaving the room and shutting the door behind him. Once Eddie was alone with Richie, he walked over to the bed, taking his boyfriend's hand into his own and bringing it up to kiss it. Richie was hooked up to some machines and there was needles stuck in his arm and Eddie hated it. He hated all of this. He wanted Richie to wake up and be okay and he wanted to take Richie home, where he'll cuddle him and give him kisses upon kisses and never let him feel sad again. Eddie sat on the edge of the bed, holding Richie's hand. He looked his arms over, seeing old and healing scars, none new. He still kissed the scars, leaning over Richie's body carefully as he did so. "You were going to leave me," Eddie said quietly, brushing the hair back from Richie's forehead. "Please don't leave me, Richie. I need you. You don't understand just how much I need you." Eddie stayed in the room with Richie a little while longer, but decided to leave and get the others because he didn't want to keep them waiting. He brought his friends up to the third floor and everyone waited out in the hall while one loser went in to see Richie. Each person took at least five to ten minutes seeing Richie. When they were all done, they stood in the hall and talked a little. Until Bev said she should get home because her and Ben had work in the morning. "But we'll be back tomorrow to see how he's doing," Bev said, hugging Eddie. "Hang in there. He's okay." She kissed his cheek after whispering in her ear before moving out of the way to let Ben hug Eddie. After they left, Mike, Bill, and Stan announced they had work and classes in the morning too, so they should get home. "We'll be back tomorrow, too," Stan said, hugging Eddie. "Do you need a ride home, Eds? Or are you staying?" Bill asked after hugging him too. "I'm staying," Eddie said. "I wanna be here when he wakes up." Mike gave Eddie the last hug and then they were gone, leaving him alone in the hallway.                                      ___________________ Richie didn't wake up until around three in the morning, when the room was dark and quiet and he had no idea where he was. He could see the outline of a figure next to him and could feel the figure holding his hand, but he couldn't tell who it was. He woke them up, though, as he was reaching up to touch the needle in his arm. "Rich?" the figure spoke. That's when Richie realized it was Eddie. Eddie reached up to turn the lights on and Richie was happy that he did, so he could finally see where he was and what was in his arm. He was in the hospital. He was indeed alive. He survived his suicide attempt. For a moment, he felt dread after realizing he survived. He didn't want to, he really wanted to die this time. But then he looked over at Eddie and he felt guilt, for hurting the one person he wanted to avoid hurting. Eddie was hovering over Richie's bed now, both hands pressed gently to Richie's cheeks. He pressed soft kisses against Richie's face, mumbling about how happy he is that he's alive. "I'm sorry, Eddie," Richie said quietly. "I'm so sorry. Please don't hate me." "I could never hate you, baby," Eddie told him, smiling softly. "I just don't want anything like this to happen again. Please don't this again, Richie. It was so fucking scary... I almost lost you." Richie moved over pat the spot on the bed, next to him. Richie slowly got up on it and carefully laid hismelf down next to his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around him, scared to let him go. "Tell me next time," Eddie whispered. "Tell me what's going on. Don't leave me in the dark." "I'm scared to tell you because I don't want you to worry," Richie says, his eyes closed. "I'm gonna worry about you," Eddie says. He turns Richie's face so that they're facing each other. "Open your eyes, baby." Richie opens his eyes and Eddie leans in to kiss him. "You wanna know why I'm gonna always worry about you?" Eddie continues. "Because I love you so fucking much, Richie Tozier. I love you more than words could ever explain." Richie smiles a little, slipping his hand into Eddie's. "Why did you do it?" Eddie asks. "You didn't leave a note. I don't know why you did it." Richie let out a sigh, the pad of his thumb rubbing over Eddie's knuckles in a soothing way. "I was just tired," he said, his voice low and a little shaky. "I am tired. I just hate waking up and seeing myself in the mirror and I hate breathing and I hate who I am. I hate my parents. I hate how I hurt you and Bev, and Mike, and Ben and Bill and Stan. I hate being a disappoitment." "You're not a disappointment, Richie," Eddie said sternly, his eyes never leaving Richie's. "You're so fucking beautiful. And you're smart and you're loved. You have so many people who love you. We may not be your parents, but we love you. You mean the world to me and I wish you would realize that." Richie didn't say anything to that, he just pulled Eddie closer into him and kissed the top of his head. They stayed like that for a good ten minutes before Eddie spoke again. "I'm never gonna give up on you," Eddie said. "Thank you for never giving up on me," Richie smiled.

tagging: @spicyymoon--lovve @king-wheezy-trash @t-rash-m-outh @trxshmouth-t0zier @whipashwhipash @richie-n-eds @rainy-kaspbrak @trashmoutheds @trashmouth-and-wheezy @richietoaster @eddie-kaspjack

@lvsersclub @90stan

[reddie-set-go]

can i get some reddie angst! them having a really big argument or something

of course!! this is kinda rushed and i don’t love it but here ya go!!

Bev tentatively picked up her cell and accepted the call. “Hello?… Zoey! Hey!” She said, a grin spreading across her face. She held Eddie’s hand in her own, focusing as she painted his fingernail with another layer of clear coat. “Hang on, I’ll put you on speaker.” She placed Eddie’s finished hand on his knee and put the phone on the floor.

“How have you been, Bev?” A cheery voice Eddie didn’t recognize rang out from the cellphone.

“I’m great! What have you been up to?”

Eddie blew on his fingernails, listening to the two girls catch up. He got up and went into Bev’s kitchen to pour himself a glass of water, taking care not to mess up his nails. He returned to the living room, sitting down next to Bev. He carefully placed the glass on the red carpet.

“So guess who I talked to today?” The voice over the phone asked.

“Who?”

“Richie Tozier.” The girl giggled. “You remember him? From high school?”

“Do I remember him?” Beverly sighed. “I never got rid of him.” She glanced at Eddie and they both laughed.

The girl sighed. “God, I wish.” She paused. “Hands down the best lay I’ve ever had.”

Eddie froze, the smile falling from his face. “What?” He said, looking over at Bev, who was staring back at him with a look of abject horror on her face.

“Um, Zoey-”

“I mean, we were in high school, and we were stoned out of our minds, but from what I can remember…” The girl continued, chuckling.

Eddie stood up as fast as his legs would let him, knocking over the glass of water at his feet. “WHAT?” He said, nearly shouting this time.

“Listen, Zoey, I’ve got to go. I’ll call you back later.”

“Okay, bye Beverl-”

Bev cut her off, hanging up the phone. “Eddie-” she started, but the front door to her apartment slammed shut with a bang, leaving her alone in her living room.

~

Eddie slammed the door behind him harder than he meant to and stormed down the hallway. His keys jangled in his left fist as he made his way down the steps.

“Eddie!” He heard Beverly yell from down the hall. “Wait. Let me come with you.” She jogged down the hallway and walked with him down the stairs and outside to the parking lot. He didn’t respond.

~

Plopping down in his tiny yellow Beetle, Eddie started the car as Bev climbed into the passenger seat. She put on her seatbelt and he jerked out of the parking space much too fast. His ears rang with the words as he drove towards home, the two of them sitting in uncomfortable silence.

best lay I’ve ever had

stoned out of our minds

high school

best lay I’ve ever had

“You know, it’s probably not true.” Bev offered, shattering the thick cloud of silence.

“Please, Beverly.” Eddie said.

“Okay.”

Eddie wiped a tear from his eye, trying not to let Bev see. He knew it was likely it wasn’t true. Why should I believe a random girl I’ve never even heard of before? He thought. But at the same time, he knew why. It sounds like something Richie would do.

That realization was what had sent him into a frenzy. He knew all too well that Richie’s junior and senior year of high school had been one big blur of weed and alcohol, because Eddie had been there for most of it. He also knew that Richie wasn’t the most abstinent person on the planet, to say the least, but that wasn’t the issue. Most of the members of the losers’ club had been together at one point or another over the course of high school. The prospect of Richie sleeping with someone else wasn’t the problem.

But someone ­outside of the losers’ club? A girl other than Beverly? And he never told him? Eddie wanted to scream.

Eddie pulled into his parking spot outside of their apartment building and threw the car in park. He jumped out, slamming the door, his heart pounding in his chest. It’s probably not true. It’s probably not true. It’s p-

(best lay I’ve ever had)

-robably not true.

Beverly jumped out of the car and followed Eddie up the stairs. He marched right up to their door, shoved the key in, and opened it.

“Richie?” He immediately screamed. “Richard, where the fuck are you?”

“What?” Richie called sleepily from their shared bedroom. Bev stumbled in the door behind Eddie and he slammed it. He stormed into their room, where Richie lay half-asleep on their queen-sized bed.

“Get up. Get the fuck up, Richie.” Eddie switched on the lights.

“Eds, what is it?” Richie got up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and putting his glasses on. He noticed Bev standing behind Eddie, leaning against the door jamb with a sad and timid look on her face. “Why are you here, Beverly?”

“Tell him, Bev. I want you to tell him.” Eddie stood there with his hands on his hips.

She sighed. “Eddie-”

“No. Tell him.”

“Rich, Zoey called.” Bev nearly whispered.

Richie froze. His mouth went dry. “Zoey?”

Eddie’s face fell. “So it’s true, huh?” He said, his voice cracking. “You did fuck her.”

“Eddie, I-”

“Beverly, go wait in the car, please.” Eddie said calmly, turning to hand her his keys. “I’ll only be a few minutes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Go.”

She left. Hearing the door shut behind his friend, Eddie turned back to Richie, his brown eyes welling up with tears.

“All the things I’ve put up with, Richie.” Eddie’s voice wavered. “All the bullshit. Coming home to shattered mirrors because you got angry. Picking you up from bars at 4 a.m. when you were so fucking drunk you couldn’t put a sentence together.” He was yelling, now, but couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down his face. “I put my fucking life on the line for you! I stayed in this shitty, homophobic town, I came out to my mom, who won’t speak to me anymore, I’ve cleaned up your vomit, I’ve held your hair back, I’ve busted the bathroom door down twice to rip razors from your hands, Richie!” He screamed.

“Eddie. I’m sorry.” Richie sat on the edge of the bed, his heart breaking as he watched all of his boyfriend’s frustration from the past 6 years pour out.

“Sorry, my ass. I loved you! Through all of this fucking bullshit, I fucking loved you. And now I find out that you slept with some random girl? Not one of our friends, someone I’ve never even heard of? And you never told me? And she’s calling you, and calling Bev, and telling everyone all about how you were the best lay she’s ever had? Do you know what that fucking does to me, Richie? Were you even going to tell me she called?”

Richie couldn’t speak. They’d never fought like this before. The realization that he’d really, truly fucked up this time hit him like a truck. Like his boyfriend, tears started to stream down his face.

“I’m sorry, Eds. I’m so sorry. I love you.” He got up to walk towards him.

“Yeah?” Eddie looked up at the taller boy, his eyes puffy and red-rimmed, tear streaks like rivers on his cheeks. His nose was red, his hair disheveled from grabbing it. “Well fuck you, Richie.” He said, more malice in his voice than Richie had ever heard. Eddie walked calmly out of the bedroom and out the front door, slamming it behind him.

[prettyblossoms]

Lost In Limbo

Summary: Dealing with the pressure of being a teenager is proving to be too much for seventeen-year-old Eddie Kaspbrak, who is unable to deal with his overbearing mother’s expectations and violent school bullies. To make matters worse, he is fighting a losing battle with his sexuality. Meanwhile, Richie Tozier is trying to convince himself that what he feels towards his best friend is mere attraction. Will they be able to find the truth in each other or are they destined to crash and burn?

Pairings: Reddie, Stenbrough, Benverly.

Warnings: Angst, homophobic language, groping, kissing, making out, aged up characters!

                                  Chapter 9: I Adore You

Bill sat on the cold tile flooring of the school while engrossed in a large paperback novel. The cover was flawed, having rips and wrinkles along the edges and around its binding. On the inside, the pages were crumpled making them elicit a sound when he turned one. Bill seemed unfazed by the condition of the book as he effortlessly read the text aloud, only stopping to prevent himself from stuttering. The redheaded male, seated directly next to him, gently slapped Bill's knee as a way to encourage him to continue reading. Bill smirked and placed his thumb on the page he was on and pulled the book closed with his remaining fingers. Bill heard Stan huff in protest, but his attitude shifted when the auburn-haired teen slung his arm around him, pulling their bodies closer together. Bill met Stan's stare and they both grinned wildly at each other. Stan's cheeks became blotched with a red hue, and Bill would have taken it as a compliment had they just not gotten out of baseball practice. "I know you're worried about Eddie, S-Stan." Bill caressed Stan's shoulder lovingly, "We all are, but just know he is gonna be okay. We're going to make him okay again." Stan didn't respond. He was too caught up trying to control the butterflies dancing around in his stomach. He practically melted into Bill's arms and he took advantage of the moment, nuzzeling his head into shoulder closest to him. The smell of natural earthy tones consumed him when Bill rested his head on Stan's own. The moment came to a screeching halt when Ben exited the classroom, almost hitting them with the door. Stan and Bill pulled apart from each other and immediately jumped to their feet. Ben's eyebrows deepened, and an all-knowing smile became plastered on his face. As they exited the school, Stan opened up his umbrella to avoid getting his hair drenched by the rain showing them. They walked past the football field just as Mike was coming out carrying heavy bags in tow. "They cancel your practice because of the rain too?" "Yes. It is a good thing too because it is disgustingly muddy out here," came from Stan as he pulled his umbrella back from Bill, who was trying to force his way underneath it. Ben chuckled to himself as he watched them eventually compromise, huddling together under the one person umbrella. The rain beat down upon them as they walked towards Mike's truck. It was much larger than Richie's and was a four-seater given to him by his Grandfather. Ben took the passenger seat while Stan and Bill sat in the back, laughing about only god know what. Mike began to drive towards Eddie's house slowly as to avoid the potential dangers of being on the road during the storm. Bill looked out of the window, watching as the rain destroyed everything in its path. Then the laughs ceased, completely dying on his tongue. Stan sensed the tension that began to flood the car and looked at Bill questioningly. Bill's fists clenched and he was digging his nails into his palms. His baby blue eyes squinted under the pressure of his brow that was now forming stress lines. Bill's foot bounced against the truck's floorboard, which was surely a sign that something was wrong. "What's wrong, Bill?" Stan asked. "I left S-Silver yesterday, and now it's raining." "Well, where did you leave it?" Mike asked, "We can go get it." "I left it in the Q-Quarry." "Shit! The Quarry always floods during the rain, especially like this!" Ben added, "We better hurry!"

"Say no more!" Mike stepped on the gas and accelerated towards the Quarry being as fast and safe as possible. His windshield wipers were in high gear, as they swiveled back and forth clearing Mike's vision for only a few seconds. He sat up in his seat as he pulled a U-turn, now driving in the direction of the Quarry.

Stan tightened his seatbelt and grasped onto it like a life preserver. Mike had never driven this fast, and it was intimidating as hell. He was just about to scream for Mike to slow down when he looked over at Bill, who was holding onto trucks grip and laughing wildly. With everything going on with Eddie and Richie, Bill had been incredibly stressed, so Stan welcomed the change in his crushes demeanor. His lips curved into a smile as he stared at him. His heart started to beat harder against his rib cage, but this time it wasn't because of the fear of getting into an accident; he was head over heels for Bill. They reached the Quarry in record-breaking time. Stan almost wanted to kiss the ground in relief that they had lived through the whole ordeal. Almost. "Where did you leave Silver, Bill?" Mike asked pulling the hood of his hoodie over his head. Bill squinted as he scanned the area. The sky was almost pitch black, and rain was barreling down on them, making it difficult to see. The water was rapidly accumulating causing the Quarry's waters to become deeper in depth. To avoid slipping in the mud, he began to slowly walk in the direction where he believed he left the bike. He moved branches from the trees blocking their path when all of a sudden they met eyes with Victor, who had appeared to be hiding. The boys weren't expecting to see anyone, so it started the majority of the four Losers. Stan brought his hand up to his chest preventing his heart from jumping out. Ben stumbled backward but still stared at Vic with a scowl of defiance. Bill's mouth fell open as he let out a gawk of disbelief. Mike was the only one to put arms over his chest. He attempted to glare at Vic, but it came out as a look of confusion. Despite his impressive stature, Mike was too sweet to be seen as intimidating. Yet, Vic's eyes widened as he looked towards the Quarry's waters and then back at them, looking like a child with his hand stuck in the cookie jar. His body recoiled in terror leaving Stan, Bill, and Ben confused. Mike was unfazed, only following Vic's gaze to see Henry Bower's in the Quarry's waters. "What the hell is going on?" Mike asked no one in particular, his eyes glued to the scene unfolding in front of him. His voice was dangerously low but lethal enough to make Victor cower in fear. The other three males turned their heads to see what Mike was staring at and gasped. Victor saw that the Losers were distracted, so he began to run away hollering, "Belch, Henry! We got company." The minute Henry Bower's flew from the water they saw something had remained, but the water conflicted with their vision. They began to walk more quickly towards the lake anticipating the worst. Their worst fears were brought to life once they were at the water's edge; a silhouette of a body became visible. And it wasn't moving. Dread pooled into their bellies causing them to become more reckless. They sprinted into the icy water as if their lives depended on it; welcoming the pins and needles that electrified their bodies. Mike, being the fastest out of them all, made it into the water first. He felt a lump in his throat arise when he saw those unmistakable shorts and fanny pack on the person's waist. This fueled his body to move faster; battling against the current more aggressively than before. Once he reached him, he wasted no time hauling him up into the air. The other boys, who were a short distance away from Mike, felt their hearts sink when Mike pulled Eddie out of the water. His body was so limp that even Mike struggled to lift up him. Usually, he could pick up Eddie like a sack of potatoes, so it was unsettling that he now felt so heavy. Mike ran back to the rocks as quickly as he could ignoring the pleading looks from Stan and Bill. His muscular legs felt like jello by the time he laid Eddie down onto the ground. Being as gentle as Mike could, he tapped Eddie's cheeks together in his hands. "Wake up, Eddie," Mike's voice hitched. "Please." Eddie's body didn't even flinch as the light taps on his cheek became harsher slaps.  Mike was overwhelmed, to say the least. Panic painted his face when he noticed that Eddie's lips were blue and his skin was as white as a sheet. Quickly, he put his head up to the boy's nose and looked down his chest to check if he was breathing. He put one hand over Eddie's upper stomach and then placed the other one on top, intertwining his fingers together. He pushed his hands down hard only stopping to give Eddie two rescue breaths. Bill dissolved into tears. His hands violently shook as he tried to reach out for Stan to hold him steady. The emotional turmoil going through him caused his stutter to become more prominent, "F-f-f-fuck! E-E-Ed-die!" Stan watched the scene unravel in horror. Eddie looked like he was dead. His face was covered in blood, and now Mike giving him chest compression's hard enough to break his ribs. He averted his gaze, unable to handle the feelings coursing through him. But when he heard Bill's weeps he felt his legs give out beneath him. Wails of grief came out like out blood-curdling screams. "Oh no. No. No. No!" Ben only saw red as he ran after Henry and his goons. He began throwing large rocks at him screaming, "Fuck you! Pieces of shit!" Even as they jumped into their vehicle, Ben stayed on their tracks. In a rage of fury, he grabbed one more rock and chucked it at their car, obliterating the back window right as they pulled away. Tears clouded Ben's sight. Out of instinct, he brought his hand up to wipe his eyes clear, but he was crying faster than he could wipe. After a relatively powerful push, Eddie began vomiting up the water that had filled his chest. The taste of the copper was replaced with a mixture of water and whatever contents were in his stomach. It burned all the way up his throat as it violently expelled from his body, causing his body to lurch irrepressibly. He struggled to catch his breath as he choked on strangled cries.

Everything hurt. So bad. Mike rolled him over onto his side to prevent him from choking and patted his back. Bill couldn't contain his relief and sank to his knees immediately grabbing onto Stan and pulling him into a tight embrace. "It's okay, S-Stan! E-Eddie's going to be o-okay!" Stan looked up to see Eddie puking and grimaced. While it was absolutely disgusting, he couldn't help the smile that spread on his face. All that mattered was that Eddie was alive to be able to have bodily functions at all. He watched as Mike picked the asthmatic up bridal style, grabbing onto Eddie's shoulder and thigh for leverage. Meanwhile, Eddie was fighting between going in and out of consciousness. The last thing he could remember was Henry holding him underwater as he fought to intake air. All he could hear was Henry's voice in the back of his head saying, "Your dear friend Richie helped me out," over and over again, as if it was stuck on repeat. The only thing loud enough to drown it out was the sound of a loud, piercing cry that could have broken the atmosphere. Right about the same time he he felt a boiling sharp pain in his leg. Their euphoria of relief was interrupted when Eddie's body tensed up and he screamed out in agony causing Mike to loosen his grip. Eddie's cry was so raw that it tugged at their own heartstrings and they grimaced when his pain shot through them. Stan's eyes searched frantically for the cause of the outbreak and stopped on the trail of blood beginning to pour down Eddie's leg. "Fuck! His thigh is bleeding really really bad!" Bill wasted no time pulling his sweater off and handing it to Stan, who took it without hesitation. Mike readjusted his arm so that it was placed under Eddie's knee. "Stan, you gotta wrap that around where it's bleeding. Wrap it tight, okay?" Stan's hands began to tremble as he tightened his grip on Bill's sweater. If the situation weren't dire, he would have put up a very convincing argument. His first point would have been, 'Why me?' Followed by, 'This is unsanitary.' But, none of it even felt valid.

Because this was Eddie. He inhaled deeply as he put the material under Eddie. He brought the sleeves up over the front of his thigh and released the breath he was holding. Quickly, he shut his eyes as he tugged the material together tightly, causing Eddie to bellow out in intense pain once again. Stan grit his teeth when he knotted the material together hearing the low whines rip through Eddie's body. "We gotta him to a hospital!" "N-no, Mike. W-we can't-" "What are you trying to suggest we do, Bill?" "They'll c-call his mom and Eddie's not going to want t-that. W-we can take him back to his house and t-take care of him." "Do you know how crazy that sounds!? Who cares if they call his mom, all that matters is that he gets treatment so he can live !" "Look, you guys, this is no time to argue! Let's just go to Eddie's so we can get him warm and then we will figure out everything from there. Okay?" Ben intervened before the debate became more heated. They sighed in unison and made their way back to the truck exchanging no words. The Losers sat in the same spots as before, except Eddie was sprawled out over Bill and Stan. Bill brushed the wet hair off of his forehead and locked some of the strands behind his ear. Eddie groaned when Bill continued to run his fingers through Eddie's hair. The numbness in his body was replaced when unbearable pain crashed down on him, causing him to emit a low hiss from his mouth. He needed to see what was around him, but there was a substantial weight on his eyes that he couldn't fight. He admitted defeat and kept them closed. He could sense presences around him.  Sure, he didn't want to see the ADHD stricken teen this morning, but he wished he could have gone back in time and taken it all back. He needed one of them to be Richie because when he was around that meant he was safe. Until he heard it again. Vile words hit him like electricity sending a shiver down his spine, "Your dear friend Richie helped me out." Moments he had shared with the boy he adored flashed through his head like a camera's film, one after another in a still image. A younger version of Richie came first. He was equipped with his broken glasses fixed with tape, a Hawaiian button-up shirt, and that crooked grin.  It was replaced with wide brown eyes magnified twice their regular size and he could practically feel Richie's hands shaking his face. The picture fast-forwarded years later. Richie had gone through his growth spurt and puberty had been very kind to him. His teeth were immaculate; straightened and pearly white. Perks of having a dentist in the family. And the only benefit of having Mr. Tozier as a father. The large dorky glasses were replaced with contacts, which had become much more modern in Derry. Richie's hair remained unruly, wild, and free. It sprawled out in every direction. The picture displayed Richie frozen in a ridiculous pose pretending to be one of the manikins at a department store and his grin was a mile long. He could specifically remember why they were there that day.

"Eds, once I get that guitar I am going to start a band! I'll be like David Bowie or Kurt Cobain, just you watch and see! Girls will be lining up around the block to take a trip on this willy.” Richie shouted too loudly and made an inappropriate gesture to his private area. "First off, that is fucking disgusting. Secondly, the only thing girls would line up to see is you being euthanized like the horn dog you are.” Eddie didn’t let it go at that as a thought entered his mind, “Besides, you already have an instrument." Richie raised an eyebrow, but Eddie continued, "Your mouth literally spews out nothing but hot air and noise twenty-four hours a day." Richie only laughed, "Aww, Eds! Are you trying to tell me that my voice is beautiful?" He playfully pinched Eddie's cheek only to have his hand slapped away. "Yes, it's so beautiful," Eddie oozed sarcastically. "So beautiful in fact that you cause all of the stray animals in Derry to howl at night. You blend in so well with them too. I can see your name in lights now." Eddie pointed at a blank billboard sign and expanded his hands over it for dramatic effect. "Richie: The Walking Trashmouth! " Richie snorted and shook his head with newfound determination, "If only you knew what this mouth could do. Just ask your mother, last night I had her screaming-” “Beep Beep Richie!” Eddie scowled at the other teens joke. “Stop talking about my mother.” “Alright, Eds. I’ll prove it to you that I have the voice of a fucking angel.." Eddie's eyes widened, and he began to walk faster, knowing Richie was up to something. He couldn’t get away quick enough. " Do you mind if I adore you, For as long as it will take ?" Richie sang loudly to Eddie as he took long strides to catch up to the shorter male.  Before Eddie could run Richie slung his arm around Eddie's shoulder and his voice elevated even more, " Do you mind if I adore you, every moment I'm awake ? Ohhhh~! I adore you, Eds!" People were now stopping and staring at the duo with grotesque expressions. Eddie was so embarrassed that he tried to bury himself in his baseball cap, concealing his face from onlookers. "Richie, if you don't let me go and shut the fuck up this instant you aren't going to live to see the day you play any instrument."

Despite what he said, a smile spread on his lips and his cheeks radiated a bright shade of pink. Even way back then, part of him wanted Richie’s words to be true.

That moment faded and was replaced by the serious look on Richie's face yesterday after they kissed, shame littered deep in his eyes. Then it all disappeared. "Your dear friend Richie helped me out." He could feel moisture on his cheeks, and his chest tightened as he began to breathe more rapidly. Richie had told Bowers exactly where to find him. Nothing made sense. Richie had him beaten, bruised, and almost- Visions swam through his head once more, but they were all of Henry Bowers. Laughing at him as he punched and kicked him mercilessly. The snide smile on his face as Eddie gasped for air. And those hands under the waistband of his shorts, trying to go lower. "I am going to take away all of your dignity, Kaspbrak. Everyone is going to see you for the faggot that you are after this." A dim light bulb went off in his head effectively shattering what was left of his heart;  Richie hated him. His breaths became full on hyperventilating in a matter of seconds. Strong hands embraced him so closely that he could feel the person's body heat seeping into him. He thrashed against the person's grip, but he was too weak to get away. Eddie's body shook like a leaf and the world was beginning to spin. All he could focus on was what he felt at the moment; the emptiness in his chest. The thought that Richie would do something like that hurt more than any physical wounds he had suffered  in his seventeen years of living. It even hurt more than his mother’s lies, about him being sick. But what was worse was that he still loved Richie with all of his being.

"R-R-Rich-h-h-ie?" Eddie stammered out.

Everything was slipping away slowly like water going down the drain, and his time being conscious was running out. He could feel it and it shook him to the core that this may be the last time he opened his eyes. A pang of bravery motivated him to move his hand to clasp the one clutching his arm. Bill looked down at him grief-stricken and then looked to Stan, doubt hidden behind his baby blue eyes. Stan bit into his fist to avoid crying out again, but slowly nodded his head towards Bill. It was obvious between the other Losers that Eddie had always felt closest to Richie meaning that was probably the only person Eddie wanted. Bill intertwined his fingers with Eddie's and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I’m h-here.”

Eddie heard the response, but suddenly, he didn't know what to say. There were too many things he wanted to tell Richie. He wanted to ask why he turned his back on him and tell him just how badly it hurt. He wanted to apologize for their fight and beg to have his best friend back. Most of all, he wanted to finally tell the truth.

Bill’s lips quivered unsteadily when Eddie began to cry out through chattering teeth, "R-Rich, I a-adore you. " His fragile voice trailed off and his grip on Bill’s hand loosened before passing out once more.

[gillianfoster]

hey @basinhounds help me out here

Sometimes Eddie felt like whoever assigned roommates in his dorm had a real fucking sense of humor - or at least they must have thought they did. Assigning him to live with Richie Tozier was practically halfway to a sitcom just by the nature of it all. Richie left his shit everywhere, and Eddie got too anxious to function if he let his clothes get that wrinkled or his things get that... Everywhere. It practically looked like there was a tape line divider down the middle of their room, just because Richie knew better than to let his mess cross into Eddie’s section of the room. They bickered like an old married couple over everything from pizza toppings to attractive actors. By all accounts, they should have hated each other.

Except it turned out they liked a lot the same music, and mostly the same movies, and that they actually liked each other, a lot, under all the arguing. Richie had ended up being Eddie’s best friend, really - which only added to how ridiculous it all was from Eddie’s perspective.

Part of this was the fact that Eddie was, frankly, too gay to function, and Richie fit Eddie’s list of ideal boyfriend characteristics pretty much to a T. He was tall and funny (not that Eddie would ever tell him that to his face), he had dark curly hair and big thick-rimmed glasses, and he was sort of an amateur musician. Every time Eddie found out something else about him, caught him painting his nails for fun or wearing some ridiculous vintage t-shirt with a shitty pun, he was overwhelmed again by how unbelievably stereotypically hard he’d fallen for his shitty college roommate. It wasn’t even like Richie was necessarily straight - Eddie was pretty sure he was bi - it was just that he was also pretty sure Richie would never even consider dating him.

The real problem was that Richie should have been an asshole, by all accounts - but he wasn’t. Eddie had seen him bend down to pet any dog that crossed his path. He saw the twitch of insecurity in Richie’s smile whenever he told a joke and waited for someone to laugh, or when he played a song on his guitar for the first time.

Richie Tozier was, in all his imperfections, practically perfect.

These were the sorts of things Eddie groaned into the phone at Stan whenever he could be alone in the room, certain that Richie was somewhere else was on campus.

“And he’s nice! And hot! That’s the worst part!”

“Why do I have to suffer through this again? Isn’t it someone else’s turn?”

“Stan, I need you to understand.”

“All I understand is that it sounds like he’d annoy the hell out of me. I’m sure if you like him, he’s great, and we’d get along, but from a distance I just kind of want to punch him.”

“How could you say that?”

Stan sighed. “Again. Why aren’t you talking to Bev about this?”

“Bev knows him! They went to high school together or something. They probably used to make out under the bleachers. And that’s not like, a comment, I’m just saying, they probably did.”

“I think you just like to torture yourself, Eddie. And you’re being ridiculous. This guy is the farthest thing from cool-”

“I never said he was cool! I have not stooped that low.”

Stan sighed again - this time really seeming to go for an Olympic medal in exasperation. “Eddie. Either request a roommate change or do something about the situation, I’m always going to give you the same advice.”

“I don’t need advice, I just want someone to listen to me. I can’t talk to Richie, Bill’s always busy with Mike and in another time zone, I can’t talk to Bev, and Ben never answers his phone in the library, so you’re what I’ve got here, Stan.”

“Are you done now, then? Can I be free?”

“...Yes, fine. For now.”

“Thank you.” Eddie’s only response was a dial tone, then, and he put his phone down and rolled over, groaning into his pillows.

The real problem with living with the boy you were in love with was the constant need to look at least presentable. It was only about five minutes of stressing out over Richie’s general existence before Eddie felt the need to go neaten up in a mirror again, making sure he didn’t look as ridiculous as he felt.

Richie wasn’t even supposed to get back until later that night - he had some kind of rehearsal for a show or the comedy club he was a part of - but Eddie felt like he could never be too careful.

Eddie had found a distraction in his homework by the time he got the text from his mother.

I need to speak to you. Call me when you can.

Texts like that, from Sonia Kaspbrak, were never good news. Literally never. Eddie was still shocked that he’d managed to escape all the way to New York for college and that his mom hadn’t come chasing after him - every time she called or tried to talk to him, he was terrified that she’d tell him she was going to stop supporting him at all (not that her pittance of an allowance for him did much more than cover some meals), or that she’d really figured out something that would make her disown him entirely. Then again, maybe either of those things would be a relief at this point.

Since Richie still wasn’t back, and Eddie knew the longer he put off the phone call, the worse things would get and the more stressed out he would feel, so he picked up the phone to call his mom back.

“Hey, mom.”

“Eddie. I have some news. You may want to sit down.”

Eddie looked at his desk, furrowed his brow. “Yes, I’m sitting down. What is it?”

“Your great aunt Joyce is getting married.”

“Oh, I’m-” Eddie was fully prepared to give his condolences because he was fully prepared for his mother to tell him his great aunt had died. Instead, he suddenly found he had to hold back laughter. He paused. “Right. I mean. Good for her?”

“She should hardly be getting married at her age! It’ll be the death of her.”

Eddie had to hold the phone away, then, just to laugh. He brought it back to his ear. “Right. Well. I can send her a present or something, right? Maybe some heart medication.”

“Edward Kaspbrak!” Eddie winced at his mother’s use of his full name. “You’ve got to come home for the wedding. And don’t talk about your great aunt that way. You’ll bring her something in person. Something nice.”

“Okay. Right. Of course. Maybe a... Blender?”

There was a long pause, and Eddie held his breath, waiting to be scolded again. “...That’ll be fine. There’s one on the registry. You’ll have to drive home next weekend. There’s been hardly any planning at all. It’s all some kind of whirlwind romance.”

Eddie had trouble imagining his great aunt getting into a whirlwind anything without breaking a bone, but apparently she’d managed. For a moment he felt a little pathetic that his 84 year old great aunt could get a boyfriend and he couldn’t, but then he pulled it together. “Right. Next weekend. Well I can do that, I don’t have class on Friday, so. I can come home for the weekend. I’ll drive down. Should I... Bring someone?”

“Would you bring a nice girl?”

Another wince. Eddie’s mother had known he was gay since before he left for college - but she never seemed to give up hope that he’d get over it. “Not really, mommy. I could bring a nice boy?”

“Try not to shock the whole family, will you? And make sure they’re clean.”

With that, apparently Eddie had ended the conversation, because his mother had hung up on him. Eddie sighed and rubbed at his forehead.

Eddie would rather stick himself with a needle than go home on his own - and he used testosterone patches for a reason. Still, his options for boys to take were limited. Stan would have had to fly up, and so would Bill or Mike. Ben went to the same college, but he probably had work that weekend, since he took as many shifts at the library as he could. Bev could be funny, just because Eddie had a feeling his mother would hate her more than any boy Eddie could have brought - well. Except maybe Richie. And that’s the thing, right, was that Richie would probably say yes. He’d be funny and keep Eddie company and they’d both have a good time. Except for that to happen, Eddie would actually have to muster up the courage to ask, which was never going to happen.

He was still dividing his time between his crisis and his homework when the door flew open and Richie finally came back.

“Eds! What a day.” He came over and kissed Eddie on the cheek, leaning over his chair, and Eddie swatted him off, smiling.

“What was so exciting about your day?”

“Mm, nothing, just long. Glad to be back again in home sweet dorm room. What about you? Did you go out and have thrilling adventures while I was gone before you came back to your homework?” Richie went over to his own bed and kicked off his Converse to lay down. He propped himself up on an elbow to keep looking at Eddie while they talked.

“Not really. I talked to Stan.” And my mom told me I had to come home for a wedding and I would pretty much do anything if you would come with me, he thought but didn’t say.

“Right. He’s the one in... Atlanta?”

Eddie smiled. “That’s the one.”

“See the effort I put in for you, Eds? And you don’t even appreciate it.”

“You’re such a loser,” Eddie muttered in response - but he couldn’t wipe the smile from his face either.

If Richie was home, it was starting to get late - and a look at Eddie’s phone told him that was true. He could finish his homework in the morning. He picked up his pajamas and went into the bathroom to change. Richie didn’t seem to have any issue changing in their room standing by the closet if he needed to, but Eddie still felt strange about it.

When he came back to their room, he kept his binder carefully tucked in with the rest of his clothes - not because he didn’t want Richie to see it, but because with Richie’s things being the way they were, they’d gotten their binders confused more than once, and found that they very much did not wear the same size.

Eddie did wonder sometimes if that was why he and Richie had been assigned to room together - out of some strange initiative or concern that they’d both be bullied - but if that was the case, he couldn’t even really stay mad about it. He was too glad to have met Richie.

After putting his clothes away, he turned off his desk lamp and laid down, then turned to Richie in the dim light of Richie’s side of the room. “You said you and Bev went to high school together, right? So how did you two like. Meet?”

Richie laughs. “Shit. It sounds a lot, like. Cooler than it was. We used to smoke together behind the bleachers. Cause, you know, everyone knows it’s fucking terrible for you now, so no one really does it as much anymore except like art students in college, but she used to steal her dad’s cigarettes, and I would bum off my mom, and we would skip classes to smoke together. We also both had pretty shitty parents, I’m sure that helped. So we’d talk and smoke and I’d try and be her wingman with all the girls she had a thing for - not that she needed my help, mostly I just made an asshole out of myself but she still likes me anyways, so.”

Eddie hums, but then blushes, because of course Stan was right, and he’s an idiot. “She seems cool.”

“Bev? She is cool. Way cooler than me, but I’m a fucking loser. She just used to get shit where we went to school because we grew up in the middle of fucking nowhere. Assholes couldn’t decide if she was a slut or a lesbian - which, neither, she dated like one boy and two girls. And not like it was any of their business either way.”

“Yeah. Me and Stan and our other friends were so in the middle of nowhere our biggest bully still had a fucking mullet in the 2010s, so.”

Richie laughed, the sound loud in the otherwise quiet room, and Eddie smiled into the darkness. “Wow. Yeah, that’s pretty incredible.”

Eddie yawned and snuggled further into his blankets. Every night living with Richie felt like a sleepover sometimes - more often than not they stayed up later than they should have, just talking. “I should probably get some sleep. You going out early tomorrow?”

“Nope. Thursday, remember? You, me, Ben and Bev can get breakfast tomorrow if you want.”

“Oh, yeah. Sounds good.”

It was surprisingly easy to fall asleep after talking to Richie as long as he turned to face the wall and didn’t think too much about Richie being able to watch him.

He woke in the morning, like he always did, a little before Richie and twenty times less awake. Neither he nor Richie were morning people, but Eddie was particularly murderous before he had coffee and food, while Richie was mostly just quieter and sort of bleary in the mornings.

While Eddie was still in the bathroom, brushing his teeth, Richie joined him at the next sink. Richie’s left elbow brushed Eddie’s right, and they glanced at each other in companionable and sleepy silence.

Richie came back to the room dressed, and they both got ready and went down to the dining hall to meet Ben and Bev after exchanging some texts.

Once in the dining hall, they both went straight for the waffle makers - fortunately there were two. Richie seemed to only ever eat desert-based foods for breakfast, because he said it was all he could do to get himself to eat breakfast. Eddie just enjoyed the opportunity to finally eat whatever he wanted for breakfast without his mom being a complete weirdo about it. When their trays were filled with food, they both paid for their food and found a table. Bev and Ben joined them only shortly after - Eddie had fortunately already finished his first coffee by then.

“Hey, guys!” Ben said, smiling at them. Bev waved at them after she set down her tray, but already had a cinnamon roll in her mouth that she’d taken a bite out of.

“Hey. How are you guys?” Eddie asked.

“Tired as ever,” Bev responded, sitting down.

“Mood,” Richie said, and Eddie snorted at him.

They mostly ate quietly, and eventually Richie excused himself to go and get some more syrup for his waffle, to add to the already ungodly amount.

“Hey, Bev,” Eddie said quietly.

“Mm?”

“Could I, um. Ask you something?”

“I guess, sure.”

“Right, well, my mom told me I have to come home for this wedding next weekend and I was kind of wondering-”

“She hates weddings, Eddie,” Ben said, and Bev gave him a look. “Well you do.”

Bev rolled her eyes. “Go ahead, Eddie.”

“Well I did think of asking you, it’s just that I would rather take a guy, right, so I was wondering if you like... thought that Richie would say yes to going with me.”

“If I’d say yes to what, Eds?”

Shit. Eddie froze, and turned to look up at Richie. He could see Bev’s grin from the corner of his eye, and Ben looked ready to laugh, too.

I hate you both, he mouthed to them, and then he turned fully to Richie, who was standing behind his chair. “Right. Well. My great aunt is getting married, and my mom is making me go home for the wedding, but she said I should bring someone, so I. Thought maybe I’d ask you to come.”

Richie grinned. “You’re really asking me to come to a wedding with you?” Eddie nodded. “Well of course I will, Eddie Spaghetti!”

Leaning down, Richie ruffled Eddie’s hair, and Eddie swatted him away. “It is way too early in the morning for any of that, asshole.”

“I can’t help myself, I’m too excited. Getting asked to a wedding! By my very own Eds. It’s more than I ever dreamed.” Richie swooned and ended up sticking his elbow in Eddie’s leftover syrup, and Ben, Bev, and Eddie all laughed at him.

Eddie still grabbed Richie’s arm and wiped the syrup off with a wet napkin. “You’re such a dumbass.”

“Only for you,” Richie said with a wink.

Eddie rolled his eyes, and ignored the looks Ben and Bev were giving him.

They got all the details settled later that night - that the wedding was not this weekend but next, that Eddie would drive, that they would both need suits.

That weekend, the week before the wedding, found them tooling around the discount rack at a men’s store, looking for something for either of them that wouldn’t leave them totally broke.

“Do I have to wear a tie? Because I’ll do it for you, Eds, but I won’t like it.”

Eddie looked over to see Richie holding up a couple of tie options. “Let’s just get ties at a thrift store. And you can get one with some ridiculous pattern to make yourself feel better and keep up your pattern of generally tragic outfits.”

“Says the man that wears rainbow short-shorts,” Richie replied with raised eyebrows.

“I know you like my shorts, you can’t shame me for them in this store, I know better than that.”

Richie laughed, but he looked down, and Eddie knew he was right.

“Anyways. We’re here for suits. We can coordinate ties and shit once we actually have the suits.”

Nodding, Richie slung an arm around Eddie and pulled him back to the discount suit rack.

They did actually manage to find suits. Eddie ended up with one that was a nice, dark, fall red. Richie’s was a nice deep blue that looked good next to Eddie’s shade of red. They could also easily get ties to match the other’s suit, and they could both wear black shoes, all of which Eddie relayed to Richie as they left the store.

Neither of their suits fit perfectly, but they fit well enough, and neither of them really had the money for alterations.

They were at the thrift store, with Richie holding up a Space Jam tie and waggling his eyebrows at Eddie, when Eddie’s mom called again.

“Mom? Hi.”

“Eddie, you’re going to dress up for the wedding, aren’t you? And make sure you bring that gift. Have you got everything settled? It’s so bad for your health to let all this go to the last minute, you know that, don’t you?”

“Mommy, I’ve already got a suit, and I know who I’m bringing, I just have to buy the gift.”

“Is that your mom?” Richie asks. “Tell her I said hi.”

Eddie shakes his head, but his mom already asks, “Oh, Eddie, who’s that?”

Here’s the thing. When Sonia let Eddie go to college, her one requirement was that Eddie not room with another boy - for several reasons. She has no idea that Eddie agreed to room with anyone, let alone Richie. They’ve only ever talked when Richie was out of the room.

“Oh, that’s my uh. Boyfriend?”

He realized what he’d done as soon as the words were out of his mouth, but it was too late, then. Richie’s eyebrows shot up, and Eddie closed his eyes to try and block out the expression.

“Oh. You are bringing a boy, then.”

“Yes, mommy.”

“...Make sure he dresses up, too. I won’t have you bringing some mess into the wedding.”

His mother hung up, and Eddie noted in passing that she never seemed to say goodbye anymore. Then he opened his eyes.

“So did I miss something?” Richie asked. He was grinning.

Eddie exhaled in one long breath, and felt like his soul also left his body. “My mom doesn’t know I live with you, and I’m bringing you to the wedding anyways, so I was thinking date? But then that just sort of came out. I’m sorry.”

“I did think you’d have taken me to dinner first, Eds,” Richie said with a wink. Then, almost like it didn’t matter at all, he picked up a tie and held it in front of Eddie’s face. “I feel like if you don’t let me get this pineapple tie, I’m actually going to die.”

“Was that supposed to rhyme?” Eddie said, managing to joke back, somehow.

“No, actually, now I feel like a dipshit. Can I get the tie anyways?”

“I mean, you can get it, but you’re not wearing it to the wedding. Here.” Eddie picked up a red paisley tie, and kept digging until he found a blue paisley one that didn’t clash horribly. “I get the blue paisley and I match you, you get the red paisley, you get a pattern and I get the peace of mind that we’re sort of coordinated. Compromise?”

“Alright, alright. I’m getting the Space Jam one, though, you can’t stop me.”

“I never thought I could, Rich.”

Eddie was grateful for the distraction Richie seemed glad to provide, and for the fact that they just seemed to have moved on.

It didn’t come up again until the night before they were supposed to leave, while they were both lying in their beds, the moonlight from the window the only light left.

“Okay so, genuine question, I’m not trying to be an asshole,” Richie began.

Eddie turned over in bed to look at him. He could only see parts of Richie’s face, his eyes shining in the slats of light that their blinds allowed. “Okay. What is it?”

“Am I actually supposed to pretend we’re boyfriends at this wedding?”

Caught off-guard, Eddie blushed a little, and was glad for the dark. “Oh. Uh. I hadn’t really thought about it. I guess my mom thinks we are now? On accident? So it depends on how you want to handle that.”

Richie shrugged. “I mean, you haven’t talked a lot about your mom.”

“...Right. Well. Yeah. Uh. She was sort of shitty, when I was a kid. Not about like. Me being trans, just about me being gay - I don’t know, maybe it’s some combination of the two? Mostly she just didn’t want me to go anywhere or be around anyone. It was like she thought I would. Get contaminated or something. My dad died when I was a kid, I guess it triggered something for her, and she was always afraid I was going to get sick - I sort of got afraid of it, too.” Eddie realized he’d started to overshare. “Uh. Just in the context of the wedding, she wanted me to bring a girl. I told her I wouldn’t. She told me to make sure that I at least brought someone like. Presentable, basically. She used the word clean. Because she always does.”

Richie laughed, then, and Eddie looked over in confusion. “You’ve got a hell of a way to pick ‘em, then, Eds. You realize your mom’s gonna hate me.”

“I mean, not necessarily.”

“Eddie, babe, be realistic. It sounds like she’s gonna hate me.”

“Well it’s not like she actually likes me that much either!”

There was a pause. “I just need to gauge here - do you actually want me to help you piss off your mom? Is that a goal?”

Eddie bit his lip. “I mean that’s not why I asked you. I asked you because I think you can. Make it fun. You know? I didn’t just ask you because my mom won’t like you. If that’s what you’re asking.”

“...I guess it was, a little. So I should be on the closest thing I’ve got to best behavior unless otherwise notified?”

“Yeah. We’ll go with that. And then we don’t have to play up the couple thing too much, like we don’t have to do a lot of PDA or anything, we can pretend we’re just toning it down.” Eddie turned onto his back again, trying to calm back down enough to sleep in the next week. “Sorry for dragging you into all this. You can stay here if you want.”

“And miss your 84-year-old great aunt’s wedding? Eds, it sounds like a fucking blast. Plus, I already bought that suit. No turning back now. And... You know, you’re right. We’ll have fun. Don’t worry so much.”

Eddie scoffed. “If only it were that easy.”

He heard Richie huff out a laugh, too. “Alright, fair. Try to worry as little as you can manage. I’ll do what I can to make that easy for you. Deal?”

“...Deal. Thanks, Rich.”

“Of course, Eds.”

Eventually, somehow, Eddie managed to fall asleep.

[oddsnendsfanfics]

Mother Knows Best

Genre: Fan Fiction Pairing: Jai Courtney/OFC (Roo) Warnings: Language, Slight Sexual Content Rating: R Length: Short Story Disclaimer: a strict work of fiction, I own nothing except the original characters and the plot line. In no way am I affiliated to any of it.

A/N: Hey! Look! It’s Cora! 

Read:  Dirty Laundry &  It’s Kind of Complicated

"Honey, calm down. It's not the end of the world." Jai laughed nervously, adjusting his shorts. "I've had my mum walk in plenty of times. Shit happens."

He could have done without Cora whistling and telling him to shake it, but such was life and Jai wasn't going to argue when she praised his god like ass.

"Not the same." She muttered, her words coming with frustration.

A teenage boy having his mother walk in, while he was having sex was one thing. A grown adult, woman, having her mother walk in while she was having sex was entirely different. Would it have killed Cora to knock? Or to give some sort of warning that she was back? No, leave it to her mother to stroll in, as if she owned the place.

There wasn't a single moment in life, where she could remember being this mortified. How much had her mother saw? Silly question, she could recall the exact moment, words, motion...every detail of that moment.

"I don't suppose this is part of therapy?" Cora smirked, motioning between the pair.

"Mom." the embarrassed anger didn't go unnoticed.

"It isn't any of my business, but if this isn't doctor prescribed, then you may want to take it easy. I've been here less than 72 hours and I'm beginning to wonder if you do anything other than fuck."

"Mom?"

"I suppose it makes sense." Cora continued on to herself. "Denzi is at school, you're both here. Oh, you're father and I would do the exact same thing. He was always naughty like that, but Richie. Whew!"

"Mom!" She shouted, torn between gagging and covering her ears. There were things she didn't need to know, ever.

"Yes?" Cora paused, her eyebrows raised.

If her daughter thought this was a walk in the park, for Cora, then she was mistaken. It would take years for the haunting images to leave. Yes, Jai was a rather attractive man, one Cora would admit wasn't disappointing. Yet, this was not something Cora ever wanted to see. Seeing him bend her daughter over in the kitchen, taking her from behind, was not an easy pill to swallow.

"Do you mind?" She snapped, huffing again. "We uh, we'd like to get over this...situation. If we can?"

"Oh! Of course, go ahead. I don't mind." Cora waved it off. "As I was saying..."

"Mom!" this was not happening! If she could be swallowed up by a giant black hole, now would be the time. Come on universe, do it!

"Roo, it's fine. It's okay, I promise in a while we'll all be laughing over this." Jai squeezed her shoulder, only to have her smack his hand and move away.

Easy enough for him to say. This wasn't his mother. Cora had a way of storing incidents and using them, whenever she needed a funny story or blackmail. Over thirty years later and Cora still loved to tell the story about the time her daughter had got the training potty stuck on her head.

Walking in on he daughter getting fucked in the kitchen, what a fantastic story to tell at parties! Yes, she could envision it all now: A gathering of some sort, Cora with her third or fourth drink in hand, laughing at unfortunate stories about things parents laugh over. Someone would make the most random comment and the next thing everyone knew...Cora could be describing, detail for detail, the day she walked in to find her daughter getting fucked in the kitchen.

"This is a fucking disaster." She muttered, shaking her head frantically and adjusting her sports bra.

The only way this could have been worse, is if Cora had brought someone else in – or Denzi. Oh god! If she'd had Denzi with her, there would never be a chance of letting this go. The four year old was blissfully unaware of adult intimacy, as he had proven in the past, but Cora would have wasted no time tearing into them about appropriate behaviour.

"No, it's not." Jai assured her. "Take a drink, go jump in the pool, or something to unwind. You need to just take a deep breath and..." He inhaled deeply, letting it go with a smile. "See, just an accident. No harm, firecracker."

"Exactly, just bad timing. I apologize." Cora added promptly, happy to see Jai was in her corner.

"I...it's..." Frantically running her hands through her hair, she grunted. "I have to go get Denzi."

Since Jai was home, Sera had been giving another week off. Today was her turn to pick him up and if she left now, even thirty minutes earlier than usual, she may be able to live through this. Met with a frown, she crinkled her forehead glaring at Jai.

"What?"

"I'll go get the joey. Give me a few minutes to shower and change. You...you enjoy hanging out with your mum."

Hang out with her mother?

After that?

Jai was crazier than she had imagined.

"I could get Denzi." Cora piped up, shrugging at the suggestion. "It's no big deal. He and I can go hang out."

"I can't let you do that." Jai shook his head, squashing the idea. He could, he wouldn't. As much as this had no affect on him; Jai really needed to clear out before she lost it, as she eventually would. If she was going to go off about Cora, he didn't want to be around for that. "Naw, you two had plans for this evening. Why not get a start on them, early?"

"If you're sure." Cora pressed.

"Absolutely." Jai smiled widely.

Muttering about how this was a bad, very bad idea, she paced beside the counter.

"Why don't I take Denzi, tomorrow? There is a pretty cool dinosaur exhibit at one of the museums." Cora suggested. "You two can go to the pub, take the bike out, or hit up some sex club. Whatever it is you kids do these days."

"You're a pain in the ass." She rolled her eyes at her mother.

"Yes, but I love you. At the end of the day that is all that really matters." Cora teased. "Being serious, I really would like to take Denzi to the exhibit." Cora turned to Jai, "Think you can spare him?"

Jai nodded, no hesitation. Of course Cora could take Denzi for the day, a full day with Cora would send Denzi through the roof with excitement. A full Denzi free day was making Jai excited.

Denzi coming home and telling Jai about his day was always a high point, the little boy was ecstatic to get home to Jai and more recently Dorito. He rushed through the front door every afternoon that he had preschool, eager to tell his new best friend all about his day. As much as Jai loved the afternoons he got with his son, an afternoon Denzi free to do whatever he wanted with her, it was a high point of Jai's week.

Whatever it was they did tomorrow, to fill in the void of the little boy, Jai knew she wouldn't easily agree. She had tomorrow off, he was sure of it, and there was no way Jai was allowing her to go into work or even think about work. Tomorrow was about them, doing things they enjoyed and wanted to waste time doing.

"Take him as long as you want, but he has to be in bed by 8pm." Jai instructed with a lazy smile.

"It's settled," Cora clapped her hands together, smiling cockily at her daughter.

What she wouldn't give to follow Jai up the stairs and into the shower, nothing about the thought came across as sexual, but purely to avoid listening to whatever Cora was about to say. In all fairness, a shower in general would be nice right about now. They'd been in such a rush to get home from the gym, she hadn't even changed from her gear.

Cornered in the kitchen, sweaty, the smell of sex lingering, and caught between pissed and ashamed she leaned against the counter. Tapping her nails on the elegant cabinet top, she glared at Cora. Pissed at herself, not truly her mother, she had nothing left to do but swallow her pride.

"When Jai is done, I'll shower and we can head out."

The original plan had been to grab dinner and then head out for a wine and painting evening, something a woman at work had invited her to. It seemed like the perfect night out to spend with her mother, until now.

"Are you sure you want to go? We don't have to." This was Cora's way of giving her daughter a final out.

"I've signed us up, it would be rude not to show." She answered with her head hung, avoiding eye contact. Mentally, she willed Jai to hurry up so that she could get a few minutes away. A shower wouldn't change what had happened, but it would figuratively wash away the incident.

"BoC, sweetie, if I had known..." Cora bit her bottom lip, trying not to laugh. It wasn't funny, but out of all the people she could imagine fucking in the kitchen, her daughter was never one. "The next time, I'll text that I am almost here."

"That would be appreciated." She pushed the comment off as quickly as possible.

Having Cora back in LA was fantastic, having two weeks of Cora living in the house was going to be – interesting. Interesting was the best and only word that she could use to describe it. When Cora had made the plans, during her daughter's Boston visit, the older woman had been looking exclusively at hotels. When Jai had heard, he'd promptly disagreed with the plan and insisted Cora stay at the house.

If it were his parents, he wouldn't want them in a cold and unfamiliar hotel. Families were meant to be together, under one roof, besides it wasn't as if Cora were an annoying pain in the ass type. Asking her to stay had been for her mother's comfort and mildly because Jai wanted her to see that this was an effort, put forth, by him to make this her home as well.

"I'm impressed, BoC. I never thought you'd be that type." Cora's smirk was full of mischief. "I especially liked the part, where I walked in. "Oh! Don't worry, you can cum in my...Mom!" real classy."

"You're impossible." She rolled her eyes, shaking her head in disbelief. Her mother would never let this go. Picking up on Cora's comment about sex being nothing shameful, she added. "Yes, but when your mother walks in to find a guy balls deep, in your ass...it's a little awkward."

Cora held back on the comment she wanted to give. If they were in a more private setting, then this would have never happened. On the other hand, Cora could absolutely understand what it was like to be crazy for someone, to the point it didn't matter where you fucked.

"See, I never took you for that girl, either."

"It's anal sex, mom. Not the end of the world."

"Oh, I know and trust me, with the right partner it can be fucking magic." Cora laughed. "Sweetie, I'm older not dead. You aren't the only one who likes making it interesting."

"That was something I never needed to know." She made a slightly disgusted face.

"If I had that body walking around, I'd be on him in every room of the house. Hell, I'd never let him out of the bedroom." Cora giggled.

"Some days, he doesn't get out of the bedroom. Not easily, at least." Her confession earning a knowing laugh from her mother.

[stanpat]

Bill was pretty sure he had lost his damn mind. Or somebody had to. Because he was standing outside of Richie’s house, on his porch, with Georgie angrily watching him, on Bill’s bike, on the street nearby.

He turns back to fully face his brother, little demon or not, he’s not knocking on Richie’s damn doo-

“Bill Denbrough?!” He hears a familiar, high pitched voice. Maggie Tozier, or Mrs. T as Bill called her for many years, all but sprung out of her bushes. She was a tall, thin, willow-y woman. When Richie initially shot up, they thought he’d take after her, long but delicate and slim. It seemed more and more apparent that he’d take after his dad, large shouldered and soft-tummed.

“Hi, Mrs. T.” He realized he was standing on her porch, creepily, with no explanation. She didn’t show any sign of suspicion, adjusting the large tan sun hat on her head. She was wearing her dirty gardening gloves and jeans with mud worn into the knees. “I w-w-w-as ju-jus-”

“I was wondering when you were gonna come around,” she set down her large garden shears, stepping on to the porch, “and why my son has been home so much. What’s been going on?” She asked, straight to the point.

“W-w-well, it-t-t’s, jus-just-” sensing his discomfort, and seeming to hone in on it. She invited - moreso demanded - he come inside.

With her hand firmly planted on his shoulder, the other opening the door, Bill had just enough time to look back to see Georgie’s smug little face saluting him before cycling the other way down the street. Asshole. No more time around Rich for him.

Speak of the devil, Rich was laying flat on his back on his couch, tossing a football they hadn’t touched since freshman year into the air. “All I’m saying, Dad, is that I feel like the capabilities of space would most quickly be utilized-”

“All I’m saying, Richard,” his dad interrupted, sitting at his desk, looking seriously irritated. “Is that no one is sending a dolphin to space. I am not an astronaut, you will never be an astronaut, and we have no capabilities of sending a dolphin to space. So I have no idea why you’ve “insisted on discussing this for well over an hour-”

“Boys-” Mrs. T interrupted loudly, all but shoving Bill into her living room. “Look who I found.”

“Bill!” Wentworth looked up, looking perhaps the most optimistic Bill could remember him ever looking. “Please tell me you’re taking him back.”

“Dad-”

“Sorry, hah-” Bill laughed nervously. He adjusted his shirt. Not that his best friend’s parents would care what he was wearing. They’d seen him in far worse. 

“I w-was j-just passing by-”

“Well, you should at least stay for dinner.” Wentworth eyed the open door behind him. Picking up on his echolocation somehow, Maggie shut it quickly.

“Definitely stay.” She patted his shoulder. He opened his mouth to object when Richie launched the football up again, narrowly missing the chandelier in the center of the ceiling. “Oh, Richard Tozier, not in the house! Take that outside and pass it around until dinner.” She left Bill no room to even object, holding her hand out for the ball.

“Oh, I sh-shouldn’t stay-”

“Mom, we don’t go outside-”

She took the ball from Richie, before whipping back to look at Bill. “Oh, please, do, Billy.”

“I j-j-jus-s-.” “I’ll make green bean casserole.”

Bill paused. Mrs. T made bomb-ass green bean casserole. and he hadn’t had it in months. His own mom was wonderful, and had many a talent, but cooking wasn’t particularly one of them. Wentworth was smiling in the corner, like he knew they had him, because they did, frankly, and he smiled and said “sure. Th-thank you, Mrs. T.” She grinned, and Richie glared daggers at him over his mother’s shoulder.

There were only so many things Bill could go through for a good casserole. He was currently sitting next to the eldest Tozier, Rich on his dad’s other side, watching a game half-heartedly considering he and Richie had never really given a fuck about baseball.

“You still seeing that girl, Bill? Beverly?

“Oh. Uh,” Bill shot a what the fuck, man, look at Richie.

Richie splutered, “dad,” he began to correct, “he and Bev were never really-”

“Oh, Richie just mentioned you guys were-” Went made a vague and strange hand gesture with horrifying implications if it meant what Bill thought it did. “You know Richie could never really land a girl like that-” he joked, elbowing Bill. Bill coughed loudly.

Richie groaned.

“You know, he’s my son,” he gestured at his own face, as if it were bad and not that of a tall dentist with a strong jawline and good bone structure, “can only make this go so far.”

“Dad-”

“You know I had to trick Maggie into going out with me. Did you know that? She thought I was a total nerd, but I was willing to tutor her on her maths. She hates trigonometry, to this day, even, triangles give her the heebie jeebies- well, anyway- the ol’ math tutor game works, you know? Prettiest girl I ever saw happens to be shit in a class I’m acing. Well,” he winced, tilted his head to the side, “there was this girl in high school. Her name was Casey Jones. James? Something. Girl could wear a pair of sandals like nobody I’ve- heck, ever seen, even now-”

“DAD.” Richie stood. Bill had never seen him get exasperated at someone else for talking to much. He had to have learned it somewhere. “We’re gonna go play a video game before dinner. He looked a little green at this strange confrontation of his father’s likely foot fetish. Bill, gratefully stood with him.

“Nice talking to you, Mr. T,” Bill told him politely as they passed by. He climbed the stairs behind Richie, hearing Maggie’s muffled laugh from the kitchen.

“Sandals, really, Went?” “Had to do something, kid’s been driving me nuts-”

Richie shut his door behind him, looking angry. He still quickly deflected it, “what do you wanna play? Fortnite?” He leaned down and flicked his X-Box on. “I got the new-”

“R-Richie.” Bill crossed his arms annoyedly. “You really wanna play a video game?”

“Well.” Richie blinked at him. “I didn’t drag you up here to paint our nails.” He mentioned flatly. Bill couldn’t help it, his chest huffed in amusement before he could stop it. “I do have a face mask if you want,” he joked, smile cracking, himself.

Bill laughed, almost just snorting, and raised an eyebrow at Richie “do you actually?” “Yeah. Bev left it over here.” Bill did snort then, laughing, and Richie joined in, kicking the frame of his bed. “I don’t know, Bill. What were you expecting?”

“Maybe to talk about last week?” Bill tried honestly. Of course, honest never really got him that far with Richie, who’s face only grew hot and angry at the suggestion.

“What do you want me to talk about?” Bill groaned, sitting down on his bed, and Richie’s voice rose, only seeming to get angrier at him. Of course. “YOU punched ME in the face?!” Bill opened his mouth to reply, but his stutter got stuck. Richie continued. "THAT’S A MOOT POINT, BILLY.”

“NOT THAT,” Bill insisted, because he didn’t have anything else to say on that. He had done it. He wasn’t apologizing for it. "F-FUCK, CHRIST. M-MAYBE THE EVENTS THAT LED UP TO IT-” Bill yelled back. When he and Richie began to yell, it flew by, one right on top of the other, fingers flying in each other’s faces. Richie looked pissed, jaw tense and tight, and Bill realized he got a haircut Bill hadn’t yet noticed.

“I WAS TRASHED,” Richie defended loudly, yelling, like that bullshit excuse was going to be enough.

“OH YOU WERE N-NOT JUST T-TRASHED-”

“AND NOAH WAS PISSING ME OFF ALL NIGHT-”