#and strangled amusement that ofc the first thing bill would give him would be this

[mechieonu]

demon!ford and human!bill au again. bill keeps a journal and it's almost completely illegible, not bc of paranoia or bc of the glyphs (although those ARE fun) but bc of HORRIBLE chicken scratch. it DOES have the six-fingered handprint. and for some reason ford is slightly more forgiving abt his grammar mistakes afterward

[thestarsaroundyourscars]

84. Eddie ofc.

Hi, thank you! I’ve had this one for a while but I figured I could wait and post it on Thanksgiving!

84. “I may love you but I will kick your ass if you tempt me to.”

Read on AO3

Richie stopped pacing for a moment to take off his glasses and drag his hand down his face. He was currently standing in front of the Denbrough house⎯ had been for the past ten minutes, trying to prepare himself for what was inside.

Eddie.

It would be the first time Richie saw him in person since they broke up four months ago and Richie wasn’t ready. He thought about skipping Friendsgiving with the losers so he wouldn’t have to face Eddie just yet, but Stan had threatened to fly to California and drag him to Derry by his ears if he tried to do that.

“You’re gonna have to see him at some point Richie, we’re all friends. Stop being a little bitch.” Stan had told him before hanging up and that was it.

For a moment, Richie thought he could handle it. Their breakup was mutual, they were moving to different states for college and they were scared of what the distance could do to their relationship. It was better to end it before letting it ruin their friendship as well. They still talked⎯ at first it was a little weird while they learned to navigate the awkwardness that came with going from boyfriends to just friends, but they made it past that and now it was almost normal. 

Except for the fact that Richie was still in love with Eddie and he missed him every day. Hiding those feelings was easier when it was only texts and phone calls, but now he would seeing Eddie in person and he didn’t think he’d be able to act like everything was okay.

The door opened, snapping Richie out of his thoughts. Bev stood there, raising an eyebrow at him.

“How did you know I was here?“ 

"I saw you pacing from the kitchen window and I got tired of waiting for you to get your shit together." 

“Oh right.” At least it was Bev who saw him. He smiled at her, big and honest. "I’ve missed you, Marsh.”

Her expression softened and she opened her arms, smiling back at him. “I know. Get in here, Tozier.” Richie listened, enjoying the hug and the happy squeal she made when he squeezed her waist.

“Everyone here already?" 

She gave him a knowing look, seeing right through his question. "Yes, Eddie is here and don’t worry, he’s just as nervous as you are." 

"Fuck you, I’m not nervous.” Richie said, she simply rolled her eyes and closed the door behind them. Then Richie heard it, the noise coming from inside. Their friends talking and catching up and over all of that, Eddie screaming at Bill to deal the fucking cards already! 

Hearing his voice in person was like being doused with ice cold water. It must have shown in his face because Bev gave his arm a squeeze before dragging him towards the living room.

“Look who I found lurking outside!" 

"My mother’s cat?” Bill asked distractedly without looking up from the deck of cards. 

“No, your mom’s boyfriend.” Richie replied, grinning and doing finger guns at his friends.  

They all groaned and rolled their eyes, but also crowded around Richie to hug him. When it was Eddie’s turn, they both hesitated. Richie didn’t know if they were supposed to hug or if that would be too weird. 

“Hey Eds.” He said, waving awkwardly. 

“Hi Rich." 

His friends were trying to give them space, turning their backs to them and engaging in meaningless conversation. Richie loved them for it, but it made the moment even more awkward. 

Well, if it was already awkward⎯

Fuck it, Richie thought and wrapped his arms around Eddie, pulling him in. Eddie let out a little yelp before relaxing and tentatively slipping his arms around Richie’s waist. Richie didn’t want to let go, he had missed Eddie so much his heart ached, but he forced himself to pull away after a few seconds.

"Okay!” He cleared his throat, putting some distance between him and Eddie and trying not to stare at his cute little blush. “Are we gonna eat or what? I’m fucking starving!”

They crammed into the table, jostling for seats. Richie ended up between Eddie and Stan. He thought about asking Stan to switch, but he didn’t want to cause a scene. He already knew what Stan would say, they used to sit like this even before he and Eddie started dating and Richie would just have to suck it up. 

Conversation flowed easily, the seven of them speaking over each other while they ate, talking about their classes, their dorm rooms, the people at their college. Richie was having fun and he was happy that he came. He’d missed his friends, including Eddie. 

Once they got past the initial awkwardness, they easily fell back into their usual banter. Richie made fun of Eddie and the wet wipes he pulled out of his fanny pack, Eddie bitched at Richie for eating with his hands and they bickered over silly stuff. It was good, normal⎯ as long as Richie ignored the way his heart sped up when Eddie smiled at him a certain way or how his breath caught in his throat when their knees touched under the table. 

After dinner, they moved to the living room. His friends had been playing Uno while they waited for Richie to arrive, the cards still spread out on the coffee table. Bill, Eddie, Mike and Richie crowded around it to play another game while Stan, Bev and Ben sat on the couch and browsed Netflix for something to watch. 

Their game dragged on mostly because whenever one of them was close to winning, the other three would band together to make sure that person had to draw a bunch of cards from the pile.

It was already the third time Eddie was down to one card, after yelling uno! so loud and sudden that he startled Ben who’d been falling asleep on Bev’s lap. Eddie did a little dance, a smug smile on his face. Richie had to bite down on his tongue to stop himself from blurting out cute cute cute.

He stared down at his cards instead. He had a lot of them. It turned out that Bill sucked at shuffling and during his last turn, Richie had to draw like ten red cards before finding the yellow one that he needed. That was okay though, Richie wasn’t trying to win, he only wanted to have fun and pissing off Eddie was always a sure way to do that. Luckily he had the perfect card for it. 

Eddie knocked his feet against Richie’s leg. “Are you having a stroke? Your face is doing something weird.”

“It’s called a smile Eds, you should try it sometime.” Richie shot back with no heat. 

Eddie stuck his tongue out at him. 

After Bill and Mike placed their cards on the pile, it was Richie’s turn again. Eddie was anxiously bouncing his leg, waiting for Richie to play so he could do the same and win. 

But Richie was about to rain on his parade. 

“I have a surprise for you, Eds.” Richie singsonged, smirking. 

Eddie frowned, then his eyes drifted to Richie’s cards and those eyes widened. “No! Richie, no! Don’t you dare.”

Richie’s smirk widened, he picked the Draw four card from his pile and showed it to Eddie, whose eyes narrowed. 

“Richie, no.”

“Richie, yes.”

“Do not use that card.” Eddie told him, pointing a menacing finger at him. 

Richie lowered the card slowly towards the pile, making a show of it. “Or what?”

Bill and Mike were watching the exchange, both amused and exasperated. Richie could see Stan shaking his head at them from the corner of his eye.

“You were so close, Eds." 

Eddie groaned, reaching for Richie’s card with a quick movement but Richie saw it coming and he held it above his head. "Give me the card, Richie.”

“Nope." 

Eddie pounced, climbing over Richie to get it himself. Richie blinked up at him, slightly panicked at having Eddie in his lap. He still managed to keep the card out of his reach. "Eddie, what the fuck?” He said, voice a higher pitch than usual. 

“Give me that card! Richie!” He yelled, reaching for it, straddling Richie and almost sending his heart rocketing out of his chest. He could hear Mike trying to coax Eddie from his lap, bless his heart, but Eddie wasn’t listening. “Goddamnit Rich, I may love you but I will kick your ass if you tempt me to.”

Richie let out a strangled noise, Eddie froze realizing what he just said. He stared down at him with big brown eyes that looked as shocked as Richie felt. The living room was completely silent, except for the movie playing in the background. Richie could feel all of their friends staring at them.

Then Bill was standing up, clearing his throat. "I think I just saw my mom’s cat through the window.” He said, exchanging a look with Mike. “Do you guys want to see if we can⎯”

“Yeah.” Mike cut in, also standing up. “We’ll leave you two to it.” He told Richie and Eddie, walking to the door. Bev and Stan did the same, dragging a confused Ben with them. 

When they heard the door close, Eddie scrambled off Richie, his face a dark shade of red. He sat back on his heels, staring down at his lap. Richie sat up and watched Eddie closely, there was a tiny crease between his eyebrows and he was biting on his lower lip. 

“Here.” Richie said, offering Eddie the card. He accepted it with a snort, playing with it. “Listen Eds, I know you didn't⎯ It’s fine. This isn’t the first time you said something you didn’t mean in the heat of the game.” He chuckled nervously. Eddie still wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I mean, there was that time you said you’d cut off Bill’s hand while we played Monopoly. At least I think you didn’t mean that, but you know, if you did⎯”

“I meant it.” Eddie said, so quiet that Richie almost didn’t hear him over his own rambling.

Richie frowned confused, even if Eddie wasn’t looking at him. “You wanted to cut off Bill’s hand?”

Eddie gave him a look, the you’re an idiot look Richie knew so well. “No Richie, the⎯ the other thing.” He said, flicking the card at his face. “I love you.”

Hearing those words again made Richie feel warm all over, it had been so long. He tried to squash down the feeling but he couldn’t help softly asking, “You do?”

“Of course I do, Rich. I never stopped.” Richie stared at him, mouth opening and closing but no words came out. Eddie wrinkled his nose. “I knew this would happen, shit. That’s why I didn’t want to come.”

“I didn’t want to come either.” Richie said, biting the inside of his cheek. “Stan had to fucking threaten me. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from kissing you or doing something stupid like⎯”

“Like saying you still love me?” Eddie supplied with the faintest of smiles. 

Richie let out a snort. “Yeah, something like that.” Eddie giggled softly. Richie stared at him, sure that there were literal hearts behind his eyes. How could he forget how cute that sound was? “I do by the way. Still love you." 

Eddie sighed, mouth curled downwards. “That doesn’t change anything.” 

“Why not?”

Eddie shook his head, frowning. “Because even if we love each other, we still live in opposite sides of the country Rich, we can’t make a long distance relationship work⎯”

“We’re making a long distance friendship work Eds, how is that any different?” Richie argued. He didn’t know where this was coming from, he hadn’t planned to try and get Eddie back, but now that he knew there was a chance, that Eddie still loved him, he had to give it a shot. 

“It’s different if we’re together, you⎯ you could meet someone.” Eddie said, voice small and sad. “What if you meet someone and you like them and you can’t be with them because you’re stuck with me? Your boyfriend that is a thousand miles away.” 

“I already met someone I like.” Eddie’s face fell and Richie had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at him. “It’s you, you idiot. I don’t want anyone else. Do you?” Eddie shook his head without missing a beat. “Then why the fuck are we still arguing, when we could be making up for four months of not kissing?”

Eddie chuckled, leaning in and butterflies exploded in Richie’s chest at having Eddie so close. Before their lips touched though, Eddie paused. “Do you really think we can make this work?” He asked, Richie heard the fear and worry in his voice. He was worried too, but he loved Eddie too much to let fear get in the way again.

“I think we at least deserve a chance to try.” 

“Okay.” Eddie said before finally closing the distance between them and capturing Richie’s lips in a kiss. Richie responded eagerly, pouring four months of longing into the kiss. Eddie climbed on his lap for a second time that day, Richie gave his thighs a squeeze. 

“Fuck, I missed you.” Richie said, smiling against Eddie’s mouth.

“Me too, Rich.” Eddie cradled Richie’s face. “But if you use that Draw four card on me, I’m breaking up with you again.” 

Richie let out a laugh, nodding. He didn’t care about the stupid game, as far as he was concerned, he already won. 

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