#bill and richie always fighting and bickering for sure

[theartsharki]

Something lost in my drafts from when I watched Sleepaway Camp. Immediately thought of them when I saw this baseball scene and this particular dialogue.

[xgryffinwhore]

september nights

request:  i was wondering if you could write another soft bill smut? i don’t really have a specific plot in mind, we’re just really lacking content on tumblr rn :( in some really precarious place where they don’t want to get caught

warnings: soft smut, like i mean very soft.

word count: 2118

before your lips met bill denbrough’s, love was always, to say the least, a conundrum. lets be real for second, boys wasted your time, and you let them. only the cute ones of course. you are a hopeless romantic, drunk off of molly ringwald and john travolta films. you wanted any relationship you had to be just like the movies.

through your heart breaks, your best friends stood by you, your losers. eddie, richie, bev, stan, ben, and bill. for each tear you shed a punch was thrown to the man who caused it, they were protective over you. bill the most though, he always got so defensive when you were in the mix. all throughout middle & high school, bill has had to deal with every guy who even dares to think about breaking your heart.

“its not fair bill” you wailed into your pillow. he stroked your back and hushed you, his eyes welling with tears. “im never fucking good enough for any guy and its so fucking sad!” your complaints being cut off mid sentence by a choked out cry. “y-y/n. all of y-your boyfriend are i-idiots. anyone w-who would d-d-do this to you isnt w-worth your t-time. anyone w-would be the luckiest in the w-world to have y-you in their life” you picked your head up and looked at him with swollen lips and blood shot eyes “there no one out there for me bill, no one.” 

he bit his lip, fighting back any tears dripping from his eyes “they j-just dont see how p-pretty you are. how g-gentle and caring and s-s-sweet, and h-how your face c-can light up any room. theyre f-fucking idiots, and you d-deserve m-more.” you clearly thought he was being nice, because you could take a MOTHER FUCKING GOD DAMN hint, so you replied “i wish there was someone out there like you, for me, that thinks of me the way you do.” 

he furrowed his brows, tossing his head back and running his fingers furiously through his hair. “d-dammit y/n!” he cursed “cant you s-see what ive b-been trying to say? w-w-what ive been t-trying to say f-for the last f-five years!?!” your expression was bewildered, your brain was going a mile a minute trying to figure out what he meant. his frustration got the best of him, he got up and stormed out the door,  feeling embarrassed and stupid for trying to make you understand how he felt.

he was half way out your front door, fuming for his keys lodged deep into his front pocket; when suddenly:

“bill!”

his head turned at the call of his name, “y-y/n please i d-”

smack.

your lips locked with his, he rain pouring heavily outside. bills lips stilled at the contact, but this lasted briefly, he deepened this kiss by pulling you in to his abdomen by your mid back. your bunched the front of his base ball t shirt with your fists, and he did the same but with your hair.

the rest is basically history.

now six months later, and you couldnt have been happier. bill knew how to treat you, nights out twice a week (you always wanted to pay but bill insisted,) holding your hand to and from classes, he let you borrow have his varsity baseball jacket, which smelt just like him and was a little too big for you. 

when he would drop you off and your classes, he would always grab your hand and transfer a tiny piece of paper into your palm. when you got into class to unfold it, it was always a cute little message about his love for you. 

bill had it bad for you, everyone knew that, and you loved every minute of it. he met every and any standard you had, and exceeded your expectations. 

it was september, still warm enough in derry to wear shorts, so you and your friends thought of a last hurrah for the ending of the summery weather.

“camp out, its nearly perfect” Richie exclaimed. eddie rolled his eyes “like youve ever been near anything perfect toizer, do you even know what perfect means?” richie shoved eddie “yeah eddie i actually have. have you seen amanda’s tits?”

 you tuned out richie and eddies bickering as you’re boyfriend cleared his throat. “you g-gonna go?” he said into your ear, “only if you promise to wear bug spray bill, you know how bad-” he cut you off with a kiss, his mouth forming a small smile at how cute you were. “get a room, honestly” stan poked, pda wasn’t his favorite... “at least i h-have something to k-kiss aye s-stannie”

you arrived at the edge of the forest, parking your car at the last parking ish space. you walked toward the sounds of ben and richie fighting, and came to see that richie really went all out. three tents, sticks for a fire, and more snacks than anyone needed. 

you all spent the remanence of the daylight dancing in the light sky, sharing stories, and eating waaaay too many chips. it was dark now, you all huddled in a circle near the fire; making small talk and trying not to admit you were all very tired.

“ok folks, im off to bed” richie yawned “me stan eddie n’ mike will take the green tent, bev and ben in the red.” richie paused and smirked over at you and bill, you were tangled in his limbs, golfed in his navy blue pull over. “and uh- heh- billy boy and y/n in the yellow tent eh?” you could practically feel bills eye roll, god richie was so immature.

“w-we dont have to s-sleep in the s-s-same tent, i c-can ask ben if he’d s-switch” you look up at bill and reassure him “bill no- its not a big deal, right?” he tucks your hair behind your ear and kisses the side of your temple “c-course not.”

you both went into the tent, bill began to unroll the blankets you both had packed tightly into your bags. You both set up your makeshift bed, bill leaned against a pile of pillows while you hugged his side, your face buried in his neck. his smell was absolutely intoxicating; his skin had remanence of his milk and honey body wash, but it was slightly overpowered by wintergreen, clove, and his bourbon cologne. 

you were like this for around an hour, the orange crank-powered lantern being the only source of light. you switch positions though, you now laid your head on his lap, reading a magazine you stole from the hair salon. he watched your eyes scan every letter, when you read something funny you’d huff to yourself, and when something was intresting you stuck your tongue out from between your teeth. he adored you.

“d-dont stay up t-too late” he stroked your hair off your shoulder “we have t-to have you w-well r-r-rested.” you sat up from beside him, as he adjusted the pillows and took off his pull over, then his pants. he got under the covers and waited for you.

“nice donut boxers” you laughed. “s-shut up” he blushed and regreted not changing them when he had the chance. you turned around took off your shirt, you were shy about how you looked, but it was just bill. it was just bill. you heard his breath hitch, his eagerness radiating off his body onto yours. the air became tense as you unzipped your pants and threw them to the corner. you turned around, bills pupils growing until you were completely facing him.

“yeah i know. mine are boring” you laugh nervously, brushing your hair behind your ear and getting under the covers next to him. he didnt respond, he couldnt take his eyes off of you.you began to sit up again “i can go put back on-” “n-no!” he interrupts, his blush taking up his entire face.

“i j-j-just cant b-believe i g-get to see something s-so special” he gulped “s-so b-b-b-beautiful.”

you grabbed him by his shoulders and kissed him, hard. youve been with boys before, i mean youve dated plenty of people. but no one ever called your body special. hot, yeah. nice, yeah. beautiful, sure. but no one ever thought that it was special. 

bill was a kind boy, the most you two have ever done is get each other off with your hands, always clothed. bill never asked to see more, he felt lucky enough just to make you feel good, and that was enough for him. so when you felt the heat of his hands hovering over your body but not touching it, you new you’d have to call the shots tonight.

“bill,” you laid down “just touch me everywhere, please.” he crawled in between your legs, kneeling so that he could lean over your face “m-my pleasure.”

he traced your collar, leaving small, delicate, kisses to make up for what his fingers left behind as they trailed. he kissed the valley between your breasts, licking slow striped down your skin. he picked up your upper back a little and cocked his head to the side, you nodded and he unclipped your bra. he sat their with his mouth open, taking in the view. you blushed and muttered “hey, keep that mouth to good use.” he dipped down and sucked on your nipples, his mouth felt so good against your skin grazed with goosebumps. he was gingerly with his tongue, it was sexy, it was romantic. he kissed down your stomach, his fingers sweeping down your sides. you could see his member pressing against his boxers, the pressure made him wince every once in a while. his fingers met your panties and he hooked them. again, he looked up for permission, you nodded once again. 

he brought your underwear down your legs and off, looking back to see what he had relieved. he licked his lips, getting ready to please you more than he already did. but you felt bad, bill always gave gave and gave. “its ok, im ready right now.” bill looked up at you in shock, he wasnt expecting you’d want to go all the way. “y/n, y-youre sure?” you lean up and kiss his lips, swiping your tongue against his bottom lip “please.”

he pulled down his boxers eagerly, his member sprung out to hit his stomach. he lined up with you, checking once more that it was ok. then he pushed in, bottoming out. he felt bigger than you thought, of course he was well endowed, but he filled you up so well. you mewled, the pain and pleasure making a delicious feeling that made your toes curl.

he waited, but began slowly moving after a bit. he grunted, feeling you wrapped around him was something he’d never be able to get out of his head he thought to himself. he grunted “f-fuck this feels g-good’ he grunted, his breath becoming heavy and full of lust. with every stroke, you felt yourself get more and more lost in the bliss he made you feel. “youre making me feel so good  bill” you moan, the sound of his name coming out of your mouth driving him absolutely crazy. he speeds up, loving the view of your face contorting in pleasure and your body moving with his. 

he couldnt help but feel admiration to you, your hair formed a halo around your head, and the sweat that coated your skin made you glisten in the orange light. “im t-the luckiest in the world” he husks, holding your cheek. 

you felt the knot in your core coming undone, “bill im close” you strain, trying not to be too loud so you dont wake your friends. he moved your leg up to his shoulder, hitting you from a different, deeper angle. his fingers went to your clit, making you bite your had to stop you from screaming. “you l-look so p-pretty y/n, t-taking me s-so well. making y-you feel so good.” “so good bill” you repeat, drunken off his cock and fingers. 

without warning, you came came, your legs spazzing as you moaned “fuck bill” he followed, his hips stuttering, as he cried out into your shoulder. he pulled out and laid next to you, both of you breathing heavily and coming off your highs. 

“y/n” he looked at you “t-that was really j-just wow- thank y-you.” you kissed him, chaste and sweet “that was great yeah?” “it w-was perfect babe. t-thank you f-for t-that. i love you y-y/n.”

“i love you too bill.”

he sat up, his fingers dancing on your inner thigh.

“y/n?”

“yeah?”

“c-can we p-please do t-that again?”

[eddiesbootyshorts]

we've all pretty much agreed that the losers were in love with bill when they were younger, but i can't decide if it's funnier if bill was oblivious to it or if he was completely aware.

on one hand, we have bill denbrough, himbo extraordinaire, having absolutely no idea why mike is always the first one to sit next to him when they see horror flicks, and why every time they do he offers bill the last piece of his candy or the best part of his popcorn (at the top, where there's the most butter). he thinks nothing of it when stan is always just a little bit too eager to help him with his math homework (even though bill sucks at math), or when bev or ben offer to buy him a pepsi every time they pass the drugstore. he doesn't even get why he's the only one who can get richie and eddie to stop bickering with just an eye roll and a "guys, grow up." he doesn't understand why their cheeks flush so red, or why they both seem much more embarrassed than when any of the other losers tell them the same thing.

but on the other hand... we have a version of bill who knows what he wants and Exactly how to get it. this boy literally bats his eyelashes like "wanna go pick a fight with a killer alien clown? i'm pretty sure he eats kids" and he knows that the rest of the losers will agree with no question. he's always able to call shotgun when they all go on roadtrips because the driver always wants to sit next to him. he's never cold because one of the losers is always there to give him their hoodie. he bites his lip and swishes his hair, and his wish is their command. he usually uses this power for good... but he definitely also uses it when he wants the last slice of pizza and he knows that none of the losers would ever tell him no.

[richietoaster]

Review/Reaction of IT Chapter Two

Let’s just start right off the bat and let me just say that Bill Hader better get a fucking award for his performance.

Alright. Here we go y’all. im trying to stay in order with what happened but so much happened in the movie that my brain is just all over the place so excuse me while i try to form words

UNDER THE CUT CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS

• first opening scene is a fucking LOT okay like i sobbed my eyes out and it was just not cool. adrian and his boyfriend? CUTE AF. Him getting brutally beat up and then killed by Pennywise while Don just watches? NOT CUTE AF

• Mike is a precious boy and I love him so. He cares about his friends so much holy shit. they all get mad at him for lying to them tho.But he only did it to protect them. Mike knew some SHIT(tm) our boy is so smart?? I’m glad they kept to his original storyline

• Older Bill gave himself so much shit this film and i just felt so bad. like we know it isnt ur fault okay?? We know you loved your brother, stop putting yourself down. also?? him becoming protective over dean? please stop my aching heart. 

• Jessica Chastain owns my whole heart and she can kick my ass anyday. She plays Bev so well and captures young bev’s personality so well. her scene with mrs kersh was very weird. i knew the second she ran naked in the hall i’d be seeing some weird fucking shit okay 

• Jay Ryan could kick me and I would personally thank him like?? wow what a man. He immediately recognizes bev when he first sees her and im just?? im happy. so many hidden new kids on the block reference and it had me fucking rolling in my grave

• JAMES FUCKING RANSONE MY DUDE OH LORD okay listen. he gives off young eddie’s panic and chaotic energy so perfectly i felt like i was watching him as an adult, who just never grew up. I think thats what he was going for honestly. He played eddie SO FUCKING WELL 

• I’m so sad about stan. THats all you need to know okay. I’ll talk about his letter later on in this. Stan deserved better. that’s all. 

• if you are not a fan of vomit you’re not gonna enjoy richie tozier. literally any time something bad happens hes just like ah shit here we go again *vomits* and honestly? that made me laugh. like hes just like oh shit something is happening let.. let me just.. no no its fine guys ill catch up.. EHBWFIJHDFSIJ no okay but bill hader stole the fucking show. his acting was phenomenal and,, again,, i’ll add more onto that later. 

• richie scares the shit out of dean. because he thinks hes pennywise. but can you blame him? the kid just. stared at him all creepy and shit. but its so funny. the losers make fun of him bc he doesnt know his own lines from his acts and richies just like “I dont write my own material” and eddies just like “I KNEW IT! I FUCKING KNEW IT” dead. goodbye.

• Young losers were still my favorite part honestly. Eddie kept bouncing that stupid ball in stan’s face in the clubhouse and i was waiting for him to get punched in the face tbh. That didn’t even seem like eddie, that was Jack’s energy bursting through the seams lmfao

• young eddie runs into a fucking box and shrieks and if that isn’t me idk ewhdfiajksjdoi 

• THE FUCKING. HAMMOCK. SCENE. okay listen to me. thats gay. hammocks are now gay. gays only. gay interacts only. the bickering between reddie had me in TEARS. eddie kept kicking at his face and just?? casually??? lays on him when richie wont move?? 

• stan’s fucking shower cap ehfdiujasdiosa and then richie being like “nobodys afraid of spiders stanley okay” and eddie slowly removes his because he cares what richie thinks more than spiders ok

• a flashback from after they defeated IT in the first move with reddie “eddie youve been gone for 24 hours your face is most likely on a milk carton by now” “shut up richie” 

• yong Richie has me weak af this whole movie, like always. just getting on Eddie’s case. HE PINES SO HARD OH Y GOD Like wow my sweet boy is so fucking in love ouch. which?? BRINGS ME TO MY NEXT POINT??

• THE ARCADE SCENE?? he checks out the kid standing next to him and tries to get him to hang out more and then the other kid tells him to stop being weird because he’s not gay, too, and then uses the F slur. richie was just so hurt. paul bunyun scene happens after that and hes just like “I just shit my pants” and i cried. 

• pennywise screaming “lets play truth or dare, you wouldnt pick truth! you dont want them to know your secret” gave off the same energy as eddie’s leper blowjob scene from the book. same energy. do with that as you will. 

• they had some flashbacks that included pennywise and im not sure if this was before or after they had defeated IT in the first movie but i interpreted it as after and if thats the case... hes supposed to be dead. but now thinking back on it, it was probably just more scenes before they put pennywise to rest for 27 years. 

• young richie went to the kissing bridge after that and we ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENED THERE. fucking.. r + e :((( although we don’t see him carving the E. but reddie is canon so suck toes antis

• stephen king pretty much being like “I know u and ur endings really do suck” to bill when he comes to buy his bike was so fucking funny. it almost felt like a self insert lmfao. ALSO HIM MAKING BILL PAY 300 BUCKS FOR THE BIKE BC HE KNEW HE COULD AFFORD IT? iconic. 

• richie and eddie opening the door to the dog had me laughing. pennywise was just mocking them at that point. they’d be such good dog dads and now im sad

• i was really confused because they added part of stan’s bar mitzvah?? like it wasn’t even the same from the first movie. like they should’ve just put the deleted scene in from ch. 1 and then added that part. thats one of my very few complaints. im slowly hiding them in here. 

• henry bowers was kinda irrelevant in this honestly but thank you eddie for stabbing him and richie for killing him for trying to kill mike yall heroes 

• BEVS BLOOD SCENE ?? CORRESPONDING WITH BENS BURIED ALIVE SCENE? poetic cinema. 10/10

• the big fight really disappointed me in all honesty. but i think thats because andy said he cut so much from there. i expect it to be better with the director’s cut

• eddie saving richie and then immediately being stabbed by pennywise’s claw? IM DEPRESSED.

• “Rich! rich, i did it! i think i killed him!” Our boy was so happy with himself :( 

• eddie’s last words WERE NOT “i fucked your mom”. he was talking to richie and you can hear them talking while the rest are preparing to end pennywise. so im hoping we get that as a deleted scene. 

• richie goes back to help finish pennywise but when he goes to check on eddie.. he’s dead. ://// and bev is like “richie, come on, honey.. im sorry” and richie does not want to believe him. he grabs and hugs eddie so tight i swear i could feel that hug from the audience. 

• another thing im disappointed in and am sliding in is some of the animations? Like. fucking weird. but okay. luckily i didn’t care too much.  

• THE SOB that richie lets out when he holds eddie really hurt my fucking soul jesus christ just kill me

• the losers try cheering him up after and like. thats their friend too but you can just totally tell he’s crying in a different type of grief. THAT WAS HIS FIRST FUCKING LOVE. 

• they all remember after and thats really important to me okay

• stan writes letters and its spoken outloud while the other losers get little montages of what theyre doing with their life after the battle. Richie goes back to the kissing bridge and recarves- YES RECARVES AND YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE THE E BEFORE HE DOES- he recarves the E and while doing it, stan’s voice says “be proud of who you are” and im fucking cry ibg okay

• in the end, i give this movie a 7/10 rating. although some of the animations were weird and some of the flashbacks had pennywise in it (like hes supposed to be currently dead but ok... maybe nightmares??) the actors were PHENOMENAL and the chemistry between older richie and older eddie made me so happy. my ship is canon. but im still sad about stan and eddies death. 

• ignoring canon in 3.. 2.. 1.. now 

[cocastyle]

Change - Ch. 1 | S I X

Pairing - Bill Denbrough x reader

Word Count - 4,899

A/N - and another chapter is up! I’m sorry I haven’t updated in a bit. I’m getting closer and closer to the end of my final basketball season so life has been kind of crazy with all of the things I’ve had to worry about and deal with. thank you everyone for being so kind and understanding! I hope to be back to a normal updating schedule sometime soon! anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I made sure to include some Bill and Y/N moments because they are so cute🥺

if you would like to be added to the tag list, let me know!

C H A N G E

Change Series Masterlist

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S I X  - Blood and Rock Fights

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Y/N was quiet the next day as her and the boys biked their way through Derry. Her head was obviously in the clouds and whether that was a good thing or a bad thing was still up for debate.

She hadn't been able to stop thinking about her parents since the phone call the day before. Not even Stanley's comfort or Bill's words from the day before were able to make her feel better and she was left with a blank and almost sad look on her face wherever she went.

But now, her mood had gotten even worse. With her parents still on the back of her mind, Y/N had started to worry for Beverly, the red head having called their house earlier that morning to tell the cousins that she needed them and the others over to her house as soon as possible. She had been in a rush, a hint of panic in her tone, before she had hung up the phone leaving the Uris cousins to glance at each other before bolting outside and to Stan's bike as they were off on their way to find their friends.

Now all Y/N could think about was that she hoped Beverly was okay. She didn't know what had happened or if her new friend was okay and that was all enough to have her mind drifting away as she got consumed by her thoughts.

Not even Stan and Eddie bickering at each other as Eddie complained about having to come to the edge of town was enough to make Y/N snap out of her thoughts and no one but Bill seemed to notice. He frowned slightly as he kept glancing at the girl, desperately wanting to see that smile of hers once again instead of the distant look in her eyes.

The painfully long bike ride finally came to an end once the group reached the address Beverly had given them and Y/N seemed to snap awake at that, giving her cousin a small squeeze on the shoulder in thanks before hopping off. She was quick to flatten her white shirt that had orange and blue stripes across it before wiping the excess sweat from her hands into her jean shorts as she let her eyes flicker over the building before her.

It wasn't until she felt someone's presence beside her that the girl snapped out of her thoughts once again and she looked to her right to see that Bill was standing beside her. He snuck a glance in her direction only to find her looking at him and he gave her a small look before whispering, "Are you okay?"

Y/N's mouth opened to respond but she never got to because Beverly came running down the fire escape and over to the group. The young girl quickly turned her head to look at the red head and let out a small sigh of relief once she saw that Beverly was unharmed. However, the look of pure panic on Beverly's face was enough to make Y/N hesitate in greeting the girl.

"I-I need to show you something," Beverly rushed out as she came to a stop in front of the group, her eyes flickering over them almost expectantly as she nervously bounced on the balls of her feet.

"What is it?" Ben asked, his eyes filled with concern for the girl.

"More than we saw at the quarry?" Richie asked, snickering softly to himself at his joke and making Y/N scowl at him.

"Shut up! Just shut up, Richie," Eddie demanded and Y/N couldn't help but let out a laugh, the sound making the others all perk up seeing as Y/N hadn't even made a sound since they met up with her this morning. Eddie smiled proudly at the fact that he had made Y/N laugh and sent Richie a victorious smirk while the boy merely made a face back at him.

"My dad will kill me if he finds out I had boys in the apartment," Beverly muttered, ignoring Richie's comment and gaining everyone's attention once again.

"W-W-We'll leave a lookout," Bill suggested before looking back at his friends. He only had to think about it for a second before he pointed at Richie and said, "Now Richie, s-s-stay here."

Before Richie could even blink, the others had all started running after Beverly as they began to make their way up the fire escape. Richie's mouth fell open in shock and he held his arms out in disbelief. "Woah, woah, woah, what if her dad comes back?" he asked.

"Do what you always do," Stan said as he and Y/N looked back at the boy. The two cousins shared a look before looking at Richie and saying in unison, "Start talking."

Richie watched as the two cousins then turned and began to climb up the fire escape after the others before he sighed and called out, "It is a gift."

Y/N smiled softly at that and looked back at Richie before she turned her attention back to the task at hand. Before she knew it, she was in Beverly's apartment standing at the end of a hallway with a door on the opposite end.

Beverly was staring at it almost hauntingly and she gulped before glancing at the others and nodded her head towards the door, "In there."

"What is it?" Stan asked almost immediately as he took a step towards his cousin in almost a protective way while she locked eyes with Bill, the two gulping slightly and looking back towards the door. They didn't even realize they had shuffled closer to each other ever so slightly, their arms brushing against each other.

"You'll see," Beverly whispered before she began to walk forwards, the other slowly following behind her.

Eddie nervously fiddled with fingers as he began to ramble, "Great, you're taking us to your bathroom. I just want you to know that 89% of the worse accidents in homes occur in bathrooms and-and-and that's where all the bacteria and fungi are. . .and it's not a very sanitary place for. . ."

By then they had reached the bathroom and Eddie's words fell on deaf ears as Bill pushed the door open, the wood creaking as they locked eyes on the bathroom before them which seemed to be covered in every crook and cranny with blood.

"I knew it!" Eddie shuddered and gagged, having known the bathroom had to be gross in some way.

"Do you see it?" Beverly asked while Y/N just stared at the bathroom with wide eyes.

Y/N hadn't even realized she had grabbed onto Bill's arm in shock, the two both taking in the view in front of them with pure shock and horror on their faces.

"Yes," Eddie muttered although him and the others all wished they couldn't.

"What happened in here?" Stan asked, almost afraid to ask the question.

"My dad couldn't see it," Beverly replied, a confused yet relieved look on her face as she glanced back at the group. "I thought I might be crazy."

"Well if you're crazy, then we're all crazy," Ben breathed out and it was in that moment that Y/N wished she had stayed outside with Richie.

"We c-c-c-can't leave it like this," Bill decided before he hesitantly took a step inside the bathroom, Y/N's arm falling back down to her side as he did.

Y/N and Stan looked to each other appalled before both shuddering and glancing back at the bathroom. With heavy sighs, the two went back walked into the bathroom.

The sooner they got to cleaning, the faster they would get out of there.

It was an awkward silence as the kids worked on cleaning the bathroom up, each of them having to force themselves not to gag as the paper towels they used got soaked with the blood and the pails of water  turned a dark red.

Luckily the blood was enough to distract her from her home life and her parents didn't even come across her mind once as she worked. But Y/N had to softly hum to herself in order to keep herself from freaking out. She didn't quite understand how something like this could happen, let alone how this much blood could get into one room.

It took forever for them to clean the blood up and Y/N was honestly quite surprised that Richie hadn't come up to yell at them yet or that Beverly's father hadn't come home. It must've been their lucky day, which if Y/N really thought about it, it was probably the opposite since they were cleaning up blood.

Eventually Y/N and Bill were the last ones in the bathroom, the two pitching the bloody water down the tub drain while the others went to throw away the trash bags and put things away. The two were silent as they worked and Bill kept sneaking glances at the girl beside him, watching in a sort of daze as she began to smile ever so slightly. Although, he didn't know it was because she knew he was staring at her.

Bill managed to snap out of it and quickly shook his head and dumped the last of the bloody water down the drain while Y/N turned on the tub to wash it all away. While they did this, Bill suddenly thought of something and glanced at Y/N before saying, "D-D-Do you remember the s-s-summer we first met?"

Y/N let her eyes flicker up to meet the boy's and he was smiling ever so slightly, his cheeks tinged red as he shyly looked away. "You were very shy from what I remember," Y/N said thoughtfully. "I thought you wouldn't talk to me for the whole summer."

Bill frowned a little at that, this not being the direction he wanted the conversation to go in. "But," Y/N began causing the boy to look to her, "we went to the fair, remember? And you were the only one who agreed to go on the Gravitron with me."

Bill smiled slightly at he remembered that moment. Y/N had wanted to go on the ride so bad and no one else had wanted to ride it in fear that they would throw up, but the look in her eyes had been too much and all Bill had wanted to do was keep that smile on her face and had instantly volunteered to ride with her.

"Didn't you puke after that r-r-ride?" Bill teased earning a playful glare from Y/N.

"You promised never to speak about that incident again!" Y/N exclaimed before the two burst into a round of laughter. "But if I remember it correctly, you and I were both puking our guts out in the bushes."

Bill chuckled and nodded his head, "After you seeing me p-p-puke, I don't think I was ever sh-sh-shy around you again."

Y/N let out a small laugh and shook her head as the two reminisced on the past. Their laughter soon died down and the two locked eyes once again as Y/N gave Bill a soft smile. "You know," she said as she took the pail and set it on the ground, "I never did go to a fair again after that."

Bill raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You never went to the Summer Fair after that?" he questioned. "But I thought you l-l-loved it."

"Oh, I did," she assured him.

"Then why'd you stop going?" Bill asked, titling his head curiously.

"You could never come," Y/N said with a small shrug causing the boy to blink in surprise. She glanced at him and sighed at his shocked face before giving him a soft smile once again. "I only had as much fun as I did because you went on all the rides with me. Not even Stanley wanted to ride the same ones as me. Only you. As the years passed, I was never in town at the right time or you were always busy and then eventually I stoped coming back to Derry. So the idea of going back without you, it just never appealed to me I guess. And I haven't been ever since."

Bill was silent as he stared at the girl, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that she hadn't wanted to go without him. Y/N began to grow a little uncomfortable under his silent gaze and was quick to look away, her cheeks turning pink from embarrassment. She went to reach for the pail again only for Bill to speak up.

"It wasn't the same for me either," Bill admitted causing the girl to turn her attention back towards him. He gave her a tiny smile. "The years that I did go and you weren't there were never as fun. I think the only fun time I had was one time when I went with Richie and I won because I hit the target. But there were so many prizes I didn't know which one to choose.”

Y/N chuckled softly at that and leaned against the side of the bathtub before looking at Bill with an amused look on her face. "Well, I'm here for the summer," Y/N pointed out. "We should try and go this year."

Bill's eyes widened slightly and it was like all the air had left his body as he looked at Y/N in shock. "L-L-Like me and you?" Bill whispered.

Y/N gave the boy a confused look as she nodded her head. "Yeah, I mean Stanley's been talking about wanting to go anyways. I wouldn't want to go without you," Y/N said.

Bill almost let a disappointed look flicker across his face, but that sweet smile of the Uris girl had him stopping himself and nodding. For even if the others would be there, at least it would be another chance to be around her, another opportunity to see her smile.

"Yeah, we should do that," Bill agreed making Y/N smile widely. "But you should know, hanging out with us makes you a l-l-loser too."

Y/N smile softened at that and Bill swore he had never seen her eyes sparkle like they did in that moment. "Well then I guess it's a good thing I'm already a loser," she whispered, her words making Bill blush for some odd reason as he stared at her in pure admiration.

"Y/N! Bill!" Stan's voice suddenly called out causing the two to glance down the hallway where Stan's voice was coming from. "Come on! Let's go!"

Y/N and Bill both shared a look before Bill turned to pick up his pail. He was just about to grab it when he was sent stumbling back from the sudden force that hit him when Y/N's arms wrapped around him. Bill could do nothing but blink, his arms out in surprise as he looked down at the girl who was hugging him tightly, her head resting against his chest.

"Thank you for yesterday," Y/N finally whispered. "Thank you for coming to find me."

Bill softened at those words before smiling ever so slightly and quickly wrapping his arms around the girl. He held her tight as he rested his chin on top of her head. "You're welcome," he whispered as steadily as he could.

Bill really hoped Y/N couldn't hear his heartbeat because he was pretty sure it was thumping out of his chest at this point. If she could, she didn't acknowledge it and just let him go before sending him a smile in his direction and picking up her pail.

Bill returned the smile almost instantly and picked his pail up as well before the two began to walk out of the bathroom. Bill glanced over at the girl as they walked and quickly looked away before bumping her ever so slightly. Y/N turned and chuckled softly before bumping him back, the two letting out soft laughter as they walked down the hallway side by side.

Both could only think of one thing as they went to meet back up with the others—that they sure were glad that Y/N was here for the summer.

- - -

"No, I love being your personal doorman. Really. Could you idiots have taken any longer?" Richie complained as he rode in circles around the group who were slowly walking down the street with their bikes.

Y/N had a small skip in her step as she walked beside Stan and her cousin gave her an odd look to which she only responded with a small smile. After all, how could she explain that her sudden mood change was all because of one of Stan's best friends?

"Shut up, Richie," Eddie sighed in exasperation, still grossed out by the events they had just witnessed. It was like his vision was stained with red, the blood still crawling across his skin and getting caked under his fingernails although he knew there was nothing there.

"Yeah, shut up, Richie," Stan agreed, sending his friend a small glare while Richie just made a face at the two.

"Oh okay, trash the trash-mouth, I get it. Hey, I wasn't the one scrubbing the bathroom floor imagining that her sink went all Eddie's mom's vagina on Halloween," Richie argued making Y/N stifle back a laugh as she shook her head at the boy's behavior.

"She didn't imagine," Bill said, his words causing the others to glance in his direction questioningly. Bill slowly came to a stop and the others followed suit, even Richie stopping to listen to his friend who was nervously biting his lip. "I also s-s-saw something too."

"You saw blood, too?" Stan questioned while everyone watched Bill curiously.

"Not blood," Bill said as he gently shook his head. "I saw G-G-Georgie."

Y/N tensed at that, her mind instantly thinking back to the church and how she had seen something that she thought had been her father. This wasn't the same thing, was it?

There was an awkward silence and Y/N shuffled slightly in place before whispering, "I saw something too."

The others all turned to her in surprise, Stan looming to his cousin with wide eyes as he wondered when she could hav experienced something like that.

"It was my father," Y/N whispered, her eyes glazing over as she seemed to be whisked away into the memory of the event. Her hands slowly came up to cradle her body and she shook her so slightly before whispering, "It. . .It just seemed so real. I mean I thought it was my father, but then there was this. . ."

Y/N trailed off and Eddie muttered out, "A clown."

Y/N tensed and her eyes flickered over to Eddie in surprise. He let his eyes lock with hers before gulping and nodding his head, "Yeah, I saw him too."

That statement alone was enough to make Y/N shudder, her eyes flickering over the rest of the group and her stomach dropping at the sight of Ben and Stan nodding their heads in agreement, knowing exactly what they were all talking about.

Richie, however, didn't know what the hell his friends were talking about and gave them all a confused face before adjusting his glasses and asking, " Wait, can only virgins see this stuff? Is that why I'm not seeing this shit?"

"That's obviously not it," Y/N breathed out earning a round of laughter from the others while Richie sent a small glare at the girl.

Richie opened his mouth to through a crude remark in Y/N's way, but was instantly shut up before he could so much as blink. The sound of yelling caused the group to all fall silent as they quickly whipped their heads around in the direction of the yells.

"Oh shit, that's Belch Huggins car," Eddie muttered once Y/N caught sight of a blue car sitting on the side of the road. Y/N frowned at the name, having heard her cousin mention it before but not remembering who he was.

The screams got louder and Y/N could tell that it wasn't good so she went to take a step forward, her heart pounding in her chest at the thought of someone getting hurt. However, Eddie was quick to reach out and grab the girl's arm, pulling her back as he looked to his friends and whispered, "We. . .we should probably get outta here."

"Wait," Bill said before they could move, his finger pointing towards something on the side of the road, "isn't that the home schooled kid's bike?"

"Yeah, that's Mike's," Eddie muttered before it seemed to click for them. The sudden realization was enough to make Eddie's grip loosen on Y/N and she took that small second to slip from Eddie's hold before running towards the woods in the direction of the yells.

"Y/N!" Stan yelled while Bill ran past him and after the girl.

"We have to help him!" Y/N exclaimed before disappearing among the trees, Bill not too far behind her. Before Stan could even process what was happening, Beverly and Ben were running after the two leaving Stan, Richie, and Eddie to share a look.

The three let out small sighs and quickly ditched their bikes on the side of the road before running after the others, Y/N already far ahead.

It didn't take long for Y/N to find the source of the yells on the other side of a small stream and her blood began to boil almost instantly at the sight of three boys shoving a kid's face into what looked to be a bunch of raw meat.

"Eat that meat! Eat it, bitch!"

"Eat it, you little fucker!"

"Get up!”

Before Y/N could process what was happening, the boy tried to stand up only for one of the older boys to kick him square in the face. The boy fell to the ground and Y/N didn't know what came over her, but she was suddenly grabbing a rock from the ground and chucking it as hard as she could across the stream, instantly hitting the side of the older boy's head and drawing blood.

"Fuck!" the boy yelled before him and his friends quickly turned to see Y/N standing there practically practically shaking in anger.

Bill was by her side in a second and his eyes were wide as he looked to Y/N in pure adoration and whispered, "Sh-Sh-Shit, nice throw."

Y/N blushed and smirked slightly as she whispered back, "Thanks."

"Fuck! You just hit Henry Bowers!" Richie whisper yelled as he came up behind the two, the others right behind him.

Henry Bowers? Why did that name sound familiar?

Henry's friends were quick to pull him onto his feet while Y/N and the others quickly grabbed as many rocks as they could. Y/N barely had time to glance at the boy who was slowly crawling across the river and over to them, but she sighed in relief once she realized he was okay.

"You losers are trying too hard. Bev will do you. You just gotta ask nicely like I did," Henry announced before putting a hand on his crotch and making a face that made Y/N grimace in disgust. She suddenly remembered where she had heard his name before, having heard quite a number of stories from Stan about the bully.

However, Henry must've seen her face before his eyes were instantly on her and he smirked at her, his eyes shimmering with curiosity as he said, "And by the looks of it, I'm guessing your new play thing knows how to have a good time as well. Maybe I'll have to try her out for myself."

Y/N's eyes widened in pure disbelief and she barely had time to process his words before Bill, who was so red that Y/N swore she saw steam coming from his ears, yelled out in anger and tossed a rock at Henry's head, instantly causing the boy and his friends to jump back.

"The fuck?"

Those words falling from Henry's mouth were enough to have each of the kids sending their rocks at the bullies. Henry and his friends frowned and quickly tried to pick up rocks as they yelled. "Come on, get them!"

"Rock war!" Richie screeched before a rock hit him square in the face, causing him to fall back.

Battle cries left all of the kids' mouths as they began throwing as many rocks as they could. Y/N barely remembered the whole thing since it was just a heat of the moment event, but she knew it didn't last that long and that a few rocks had managed to scrap her, causing her cheek and arm to bleed.

Y/N had never seen her friends as angry as they were right then and their anger paid off, Henry's gang quickly retreating and leaving Henry behind while Y/N and the others began to run away with the satisfaction that they had won.

"Come on," Stan whispered as he quickly helped the homeschooler, Mike, up before they ran away with Beverly, Ben, Eddie, and Bill. This left Richie and Y/N staring at Henry in pure anger as they breathed heavily from the other side of the river.

"You just got bitch-slapped, motherfucker!" Y/N cried out while her and Richie chuckled.

"Go to the hell, losers!" Henry cried out making Richie and Y/N raise their eyebrows at him.

"Go blow your dad, you mullet-wearing asshole!" Richie yelled before both him and Y/N flicked the boy off. The two then fist bumped each other before running after their friends, leaving Henry Bowers behind.

Y/N and Richie were laughing and complimenting each other by the time they reached their friends, huge grins on their faces as they first bumped once again. It was then that Y/N caught sight of Mike and she was quick to hurry over to the boy who was trying to catch his breath from where he sat on a rock.

"Hey," Y/N whispered as she bent down in front of the boy. "Are you okay?"

Mike let his eyes flicker up to the girl who he knew was his savior and smiled softly as he nodded. "Yeah. . .yeah, I'll be fine," he assured her. "Thank you. . .”

“Y/N,” she whispered. “Y/N Uris.”

“I’m Mike Hanlon,” Mike said before smiling, “Thank you for what you did back there, Y/N.”

Y/N gave him a small nod in response and stood up before stumbling back slightly, an action that had Bill quickly steadying her from behind. The girl was quick to look back and she smiled slightly at the boy who was frowning as he looked at her cheek.

"You're hurt," he whispered as he gently brought his hand up to her cheek, gently brushing his finger against the skin under her cut so that he wouldn't hurt her.

Y/N blushed under Bill’s touch and shrugged before saying, "I think I'll live."

The corner of Bill's mouth twitched up ever so slightly, but the concern was still evident in his eyes as he stared at the girl. She just gave him a sweet smile before looking around at her friends who were still all trying to recover from what had just happened.

"Come on. Let's head back," she suggested and the others quickly nodded in agreement before they all began to trek back to their bikes, Y/N falling in line beside Bill and not noticing the way her cousin glanced at her a little confused.

"Thanks guys, but you shouldn't have done that, he'll be after you guys too now," Mike finally said as they walked through a small meadow.

"Ah, no no no. Bowers, he's always after us," Eddie assured him from where he was walking beside Stan.

"I guess that's one th-th-thing we all have in common," Bill suggested as he looked to Mike before letting his gaze fall on Y/N, the two sharing a small smile as their arms brushed against each other.

Before he knew it, Y/N's hand was slipping into his, their hands being concealed from the others because of how close they were already walking next to each other. Bill immediately blushed and looked away from Y/N, a shy smile on his face as he looked to the ground.

"Yeah homeschool," Richie called out causing Y/N to glance back at the boy who was trying to hide a smile that she knew was begging to break out.

"Welcome to the Losers' Club."

It was in that moment with Richie's words running through her mind, her new friends by her side, and Bill's hand holding onto her own that Y/N swore she had never felt happier.

And not once did she think about her parents.

* * *

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[good-doctor-imagine]

First Kiss (Eddie Kaspbrak)

Pairing: Eddie Kaspbrak x Fem!Reader

Summary: You and the other losers make a plan to steal Eddie’s second fanny pack. What does it take to get it back? A simple kiss.

Request from XXTheInsaneOneXX (Wattpad): “Hey! I was wondering if you could do one where Y/N steals Eddie's second fannypack and he has to kiss her to get it back! If it's alright then I would like the Reader to be a girl! The losers are all in on the and Eddie knows nothing about it! If it's too much that's fine too!”

Word Count: 1880+ // Masterlist

A/N: This took me quite a while! But I wrote it all in one night because I was so enveloped in the idea. I completely used up a gel pen and ended up finishing it around 3 am. I hope you like it!

After spending so much time together, it was inevitable that you would start to develop feelings for one of the losers. Luckily, you knew who it was going to be from the start. You had your eyes on him ever since you met him back in elementary school.

Eddie Kaspbrak. 

Probably the most obsessive germaphobe on Earth. However, despite his really creepy and controlling mother, he’s really sweet. You would never give up the time that you spend with him. Everything about him is cute: from his flushed cheeks to annoyed glares.

Your crush on Eddie was quickly picked up by the other members. Richie, of course, found out first, after noticing how you would freeze up when he made jokes about you and Eddie. Stan is pretty perceptive given the hours and hours that he dedicated to bird watching, so it wasn’t that hard for him to realize how different you were with Eddie. Bill, well, he knew because of Richie's famous loudmouth. 

After Richie caught onto your crush on his best friend, he couldn’t help but blab to the others. Luckily, Eddie wasn’t there that day due to being quarantined by his mother. You scolded Richie pretty harshly after the incident and despite his loudmouth nature, he has never spoiled your secret to Eddie.

It was one of those days again where Eddie wasn’t able to hang out. He called your house phone that morning, informing you that his mother was keeping him home because he had a cough (which you highly doubted). Although his best friend wasn’t present, Richie was elated. It meant that he could finally tease you openly about your crush.

“Stop making kissy faces while you’re thinking about Eddie,” Richie laughed at you, causing you to be shaken out of your daze. Sure, you were thinking about Eddie, but there was no way in hell you were making kissy faces while you daydreamed.

“I was not!” You defended yourself, only realizing how lame you sounded after. “You wish you had a girl who liked you, Richie.”

“I don’t need one sweet cheeks,” Richie responded, a grin plastered on his face.

Stanley rolled his eyes at the argument unfolding in front of him. It made him question why he spent so much time with the two of you. When he’s with Bill, it’s calm and quiet, but with you and Richie, there’s always bickering.

Bill was contemplating whether he should break off the fight between you two. However, a few seconds later he realized that his actions would probably be futile. He can’t exactly control Richie’s loud mouth anyway.

“Don’t call me swee—”

“I’ll tell you what,” Richie interrupted you, earning himself a harsh glare, “We’ll come up with a plan so you don’t have to make those kissy faces in your dreams anymore.”

“I wasn’t making kiss—”

“How about tomorrow at the Quarry?” Richie questioned, cutting you off once again. “We all know he freaks out over his fanny packs, so we can hide one of them.” 

Your eyes felt like they were going to burst out of their sockets. Taking Eddie’s fanny pack? That’s nearly impossible. Eddie practically has a death grip of them at all times.

“You’re crazy Richie, that’s impossible. He will never let go of them,” You responded, earning a confused look from Stanley. He thought you would be totally against Richie’s preposterous plan. However, it seemed like you were actually considering it.

“Not if he’s stripped down,” Richie teased, causing your face to turn bright red. “Anyway, if I beat him up the hill then I can hide it.”

“You do realize Eddie’s going to freak out, right?” Stanley chimed in, feeling a bit nervous for his hypochondriac friend.

“That’s the point Stan the Man,” Richie sighed, rolling his eyes. “If his fanny pack goes missing, he’ll do anything to get it back.” Richie couldn’t help but smile wickedly, thinking about his plan to put his two friends together.

 “Oh no,” Bill blurted out, recognizing the look on Richie’s face.

“Oh yes,” Richie laughed, “Just wait (Y/n), I’ll take care of it.”

You were anxiously tapping your knee as you waited for everyone to show up at the Quarry the next day. Although you wanted to call yourself crazy for not stopping Richie, you trusted him. Richie wouldn’t purposely put you in a bad position, as shown by his ability to keep your crush a secret from Eddie.

When everyone showed up and started to undress, getting ready to jump into the water, Richie looked over at you and smirked, almost mocking how nervous you were. He glanced between you and Eddie before making kissy faces, eliciting a squeak and hard blush from you. Eddie jumped beside you from the sudden noise, sending you a worried look.

You tried your best to avoid Eddie’s gaze, thinking that if you did, you’d melt into a puddle. Your heart was beating viciously inside your chest the whole time you all were in the water. Eddie couldn’t help but notice your worried glances directed toward Richie. It made him a bit upset that you were so focused on his friend and not him, but he was also worried that Richie had done something to you. Did Richie step over the line with his jokes yesterday when he was stuck at home? Eddie tried to stop his mind from coming up with ridiculous conclusions, but he couldn’t help but question why you were acting so odd.

To your surprise, Richie didn’t try anything while you all were goofing around in the water. It was all normal until you got out of the water.

“Race you up the hill!” Richie yelled, taking off in a sprint, “Whoever’s last has to kiss Eddie’s mom!”

Eddie's face scrunched up in disgust and confusion. He was used to his friend making jokes about his mom, but saying that one of his friends has to kiss her? That’s absurd. Stan rolled his eyes and Bill sighed at their loudmouth friend. You were trying not to die from the anxiety pumping through your veins as Richie took off up the hill.

You tried to keep your shaking to a minimum as you pulled your clothes back on. You glanced over at Eddie periodically as you waited for him to realize his other fanny pack was gone. Soon enough, Eddie was on his feet, searching frantically around where his pile of clothes once laid.

“Guys,” Eddie’s voice shook, causing your heart to crack slightly, “Do you see my fanny pack?”

“It’s right there in your hand, Eddie Spaghetti,” Richie replied, pointing to the fanny pack Eddie was holding.

“No, my second one,” Eddie corrected him, walking around the tree, his breathing picking up.

Stanley glanced over at you realizing how torn up you looked over the whole situation. “Richie,” Stanley spoke up, giving him a pointed look.

“Fine,” Richie sighed, “I hid it.”

“You did what?” Eddie screeched, eyes nearly bulging out of his head.

“Yeah, but I’ll show you where it is if—” Richie paused for dramatic effect, making Eddie groan.

“If what?” Eddie bit at him, making Richie hold up his hands like he was surrendering.

“If you kiss (Y/n).”

Your jaw fell open at Richie’s statement. Sure, you agreed to Richie’s plan and whatnot, but you didn’t know he’d take it this far.

“What?” You and Eddie yelped at the same time, causing Richie’s smile to widen.

“Just a little smooch,” Richie teased further, amused by his friends’ red faces.

“Okay assholes, it’s time to give it back,” Eddie said, glancing over at Stan and Bill. He couldn’t bring himself to look at you. “Seriously though, it has my backup inhaler,” Eddie continued, desperate for his medical equipment.

“Who has a backup inhaler?” Richie inquired, only to be met with a harsh glare.

“Not the time Richie.”

You were frozen in place Eddie frantically searched for his fanny pack. After a minute of Eddie’s futile attempts, Richie sent you a smirk and a wink before speaking again.

“Just kiss (Y/n) already,” Richie whined, “You know she’s clean, we’ve been friends since elementary school.”

“Shut up Richie!” Eddie barked at him, face bright red. Eddie wasn’t at all against the idea of kissing you, but he was embarrassed by how vulnerable he was. The more he thought about it, the more worried he got. Would you think that the kiss doesn’t mean anything? He wanted your first kiss to be meaningful.

“Richie, just give the fanny pack back,” You spoke up, feeling defeated by Eddie’s frantic breathing. Although you would give up anything to kiss him, you never wanted to cause Eddie such distress. 

Just as Richie was going to give up, Eddie stomped over to you, pushing away all of the worries about the situation. Before you could question him, his lips were planted on yours, causing you to jump his sudden movement. Although it only lasted a second, you were dazed when Eddie pulled away, your mind going a thousand miles an hour.

Richie had the biggest grin on his face as he looked between his two lovesick friends. He couldn’t help but think that maybe matchmaker will be his future career.

“Took you long enough,” Richie teased.

“Okay, okay,” Eddie sighed, turning to the trash mouth, “Now give me back my fanny pack.”

Eddie bit the inside of his cheek and tried to peek at you as Richie went to retrieve his fanny pack. Although he wasn’t showing it, Eddie was practically screaming inside, elated and overwhelmed by the kiss you two shared. Was it too much? Was he bad at writing? Eddie tried to shake off his negative thoughts but your unmoving form made him nervous.

The tension between you and Eddie was almost unbearable after that day. With Richie’s constant teasing and Stanley’s knowing glances, you started to think about confessing to Eddie. You found it impossible to keep your eyes off him. Every second you spent with him, your mind was screaming to just tell him.

You finally did when you were both riding home one day. Richie and the others went on without you two, giving you the perfect opportunity to spill your feelings.

“Eddie,” You spoke up, trying to manifest all the confidence you could. Eddie looked over at you, waiting for you to continue. “I like you.”

Eddie abruptly stopped his bike causing himself to yelp as his body flew forward from the impact. Luckily, he wasn’t going fast enough to crash.

“Y-You like me?” He stuttered, mouth agape.

“Yeah,” You mummed loud enough for him to hear, “I really like you. I have for a while now.”

“Oh wow.” Eddie was shocked and speechless. His crush likes him back? His heart was doing crazy dances inside his chest, making his mind go blank.

Your face fell at his lack of response, thinking the worst. Eddie automatically jumped up, knocking his bike over after noticing your solemn face.

“No—don’t think—” Eddie took a deep breath to calm himself, “I like you too.”

“You do?” You asked in surprise. The light that appeared in your eyes made Eddie sigh in relief.

“I do.”

Suddenly, you found the confidence in yourself to speak.

“Well, then how about we make up for that first kiss?”

Masterlist | Request / Talk to me!

[unpack-my-heart]

De Profundis

Written for @violetreddie​ as a very late secret santa gift! I hope you like it 🥦

@tinyarmedtrex @xandertheundead​ @constantreaderfool​ @appojoos​ @moonlightrichie​ @toziesque​ @eds-trashmouth​ 

Click HERE to read the whole thing on AO3

Preview:

When they were in high school, they had always been EddieAndRichie. Inseparable, Maggie Tozier had called them. She cooed when they went to prom together, “just as friends, Eds, just friends, two bros, chillin’ in tuxes, totes platonic, you know the drill,” Richie had insisted, after badgering Eddie to tell him what colour tie he planned to wear so that they’d match. It was at this prom that they’d stood on the football field in the pouring rain and sworn that they’d apply to the University of Maine for college, that they’d convince the others to come too, but, more importantly, that they’d remain EddieAndRichie, no space, no room for anything, or anyone, else.

“It’s just you an’ me, Eds, s’how it’ll always be,” Richie had shouted, voice fighting against the torrent of water falling from the sky, and Eddie had nodded fervently.

“You and me”

After senior prom, and the most bizarre moment of Eddie’s life, when Richie had lent in so close to Eddie’s face that he went cross-eyed, and Eddie was so sure that Richie was going to kiss him, before he’d pulled away and lept out of his own mothers moving car at the intersection, everything had changed.

It wasn’t a tectonic shift at first, nothing too dramatic or noticeable to the undiscerning eye. The movies that Eddie watched late at night when his mother was having her NyQuil nightmares told him, with their hazy colour palettes, that the summer between high school and college, when he was not a boy, not yet a man, was a transformative time, an eight week stretch that didn’t abide by such silly constraints as time and space, when things, and people, changed and always, these movies insisted, always, for the better.

The movies lied.

Read the whole thing under the cut

The first day of the rest of Eddie’s life fizzled like a dud firework. The University of Maine, those hallowed halls that Eddie had romantically-with-a-capital-R imagined himself walking down, books clutched in his hands, glasses that he didn’t need perched studiously on the end of his nose, had been the place that, according to the brochure, would nurture him, would propel him forward to greatness with a great shove, and Eddie had eaten up these sickly promises greedily. In actuality, Sonia had dumped Eddie at the entrance to his dorm building with a sob and a screech, and, as soon as her car turned the corner and disappeared out of sight, the bottom of Eddie’s suitcase had given up and his clothes hit the pavement with a dull thud.

If Eddie had been the kind of person who cried, he’d have cried. He’d have dropped to his knees dramatically, thrown his head back and howled his woes at the grey-blue sky with his teeth bared. But he wasn’t. Eddie Kaspbrak didn’t cry. Instead, he swept as many articles of clothing as he could into his grasp and walked purposefully towards the registration desk.

“Eddie Kaspbrak, I’d sign my own name but … y’know, clothes”

The girl sat behind the desk laughed.

“I can see that, but I really do need your signature, otherwise I can’t hand over your keys”

“Seriously?”

“As a heart-attack, I’m afraid. I could take over on don’t-let-Eddie’s-jumpers-drag-along-the-floor duty whilst you sort yourself out though?”

“Are you sure?” Eddie asked, already thrusting the bundle of clothing at her, “you’re a life-saver, I swear to God”

“Us members of the arrival survival team take our pledge very seriously, I’m just doing my job,” the girl said with an exaggerated shrug, sending a sleeve of one of Eddie’s shirts flying over her shoulder.

Eddie filled in the relevant paperwork, signing his name with an overemphasised flourish. The girl handed his clothing back, revealing the name tag that was pinned haphazardly to her sweater.

“Kay? You’re a peach. Thank you. Now, uh,” Eddie said, shifting his grip on the clothes so he didn’t drop his keys, “which way do I need to go? I think I’m in the Arthur Lewis building but I … have no idea where that is”

– X –

The diner smelt like three-day-old oil and loneliness, the kind that only those who sought solace under the flickering lights of a 24 hour diner will ever understand, and the bell jingled miserably when Eddie pushed the door open. He shook his head like a dog, droplets of rain water spraying the wall, much to the chagrin of the overworked and under-payed waitress.

“Eddie! Over here!”

A familiar voice cut through the clanging of pots and the low chatter of the other patrons of Bob Grey’s Diner.  

Eddie picked his way through the labyrinth of tables, before slumping down onto the crackled leather seat, immediately dropping his head onto Beverly’s shoulder.

“Hey,” he muttered, eyes closed against the artificial light of the sign buzzing in the window.

BOB GR Y’S DIN R

BOB GR Y’S DIN R

BOB GR Y’S DIN R

“You’re late,” Bev said, factually, but she didn’t look at him, instead continuing to push half-eaten eggs around her plate with a fork.

“I know, I got held up at home,” Eddie replied. It was a lie, a white lie but a lie nonetheless, and a lie that he knew Beverly would see right through, but he said it anyway.

“Hiya, Eds!”

“Don’t call me Eds, Richard”

It began almost immediately. Richie would lunge forward with an aborted attempt at humour, perhaps chastise Eddie for something, “why do you order like such an old woman, Eds?” and Eddie would parry with a “shut the fuck up, trash-for-brains”, before it’d start all over again. It was exhausting, and Eddie would limp off the battlefield with new wounds that would scab over and form fresh scars, but there was something intoxicating about it. The most fucked up mating ritual in the animal kingdom.

“Can I getcha anything, sweetheart?” the waitress asked, and Eddie snapped out of his introspection with a sharp jolt.

“Uh, maybe, yeah, yeah, hang on, uh, can I get the, uh – the eggs? But can I get them on whole-wheat instead of white bread, please? And, maybe, maybe the – uh – the orange juice? But no ice, oh and could you double check the eggs don’t come with pepper, please? Thank you, thank you so much”

He handed the menu back over to the disinterested waitress with a sheepish grin, and turned his attention back to the table, only to be met with that familiar Richie smirk.

The dance continued.

“So,” Richie began, and Eddie tensed, steeling himself. “So, you’ve decided you’re allergic to pepper now, too?”

“Pardon?” Eddie replied, shooting for bored but sailing straight past and landing on uptight.

“Pepper. Could you, uh, could you maybe please maybe make sure there isn’t any of that nasty sneezy pepper on my uh, on my eggs? Thank you so much, thank you,”

“Fuck you”

“If you ask nicely, sure”

“You’re incorrigible”

“That’s a big word for such a little boy”

“I’m going to garrotte you with Stan’s dental floss, don’t think I won’t, because I will, I’ll come at you in the night”

“I’m trembling in my boots, Spaghetti, honestly”

“Jesus, will you two either go fuck in the bathroom or shut up? You’re making my ears bleed,” Bev said, shoving at Richie with a playful but still sharp elbow.

The rest of the losers ignored them and their bickering, instead busying themselves with lamenting about their huge college workloads.

“Professor Sumner has really been on my ass this semester, I handed in three problem sheets yesterday and she’s still not happy –”

“Yeah! I submitted my portfolio for the semester for grading four weeks ago and I still haven’t had it back, every time I check my grade I feel like –”

“Oh Jesus and don’t even get me started on how many exams I have when we get back after the Christmas break, just looking at my exam timetable is enough to –”

“I have INTOLERANCES, Richard! It’s not my fucking fault pepper makes me sneeze!”

“Pepper makes everyone sneeze, you moron!”

The monthly brunch was permanently etched into each of the Losers’ calendars on the last Sunday of every month. It was Mike’s idea. Initially, they’d tried to stick to a weekly schedule, dedicating each and every Sunday to each other, but the cracks had soon started to show. Stan was the first to become flaky, missing this Sunday and that, citing difficult homework or plans with new friends as the reason for not showing up. Then, Bill had stopped coming almost all-together, showing his face perhaps once a month at most, and even when he did, he’d disappear almost immediately after finishing his food. When they’d gone almost a whole month without seeing each other at all, Bev had rung Eddie with steel in her voice and demanded that he help her organise an intervention. Eddie had been reticent at first, having almost convinced himself that he was bizarrely content with letting the flame of their friendship die down, but then Richie had, without warning, turned up at his door with a blanket tucked under his arm and deep purple rings framing his eyes.

“I can’t sleep”

“Come in, Rich”

– X –

When they were in high school, they had always been EddieAndRichie. Inseparable, Maggie Tozier had called them. She cooed when they went to prom together, “just as friends, Eds, just friends, two bros, chillin’ in tuxes, totes platonic, you know the drill,” Richie had insisted, after badgering Eddie to tell him what colour tie he planned to wear so that they’d match. It was at this prom that they’d stood on the football field in the pouring rain and sworn that they’d apply to the University of Maine for college, that they’d convince the others to come too, but, more importantly, that they’d remain EddieAndRichie, no space, no room for anything, or anyone, else.

“It’s just you an’ me, Eds, s’how it’ll always be,” Richie had shouted, voice fighting against the torrent of water falling from the sky, and Eddie had nodded fervently.

“You and me”

After senior prom, and the most bizarre moment of Eddie’s life, when Richie had lent in so close to Eddie’s face that he went cross-eyed, and Eddie was so sure that Richie was going to kiss him, before he’d pulled away and lept out of his own mothers moving car at the intersection, everything had changed.

It wasn’t a tectonic shift at first, nothing too dramatic or noticeable to the undiscerning eye. The movies that Eddie watched late at night when his mother was having her NyQuil nightmares told him, with their hazy colour palettes, that the summer between high school and college, when he was not a boy, not yet a man, was a transformative time, an eight week stretch that didn’t abide by such silly constraints as time and space, when things, and people, changed and always, these movies insisted, always, for the better.

The movies lied.

The morning after senior prom, Eddie woke before Richie. He grabbed his suit, where it lay crumpled in a sad little pile in the middle of Richie’s bombsite bedroom, and left without saying goodbye. Richie didn’t ring him. Eddie hovered around in the kitchen when he got home, but the phone didn’t ring. Around lunch time, Eddie sat at the kitchen table, pretending to be very interested indeed in the story his mother was telling him about the woman who worked at the supermarket on a Wednesday and her mother’s brother’s son’s daughter’s scandalous second marriage. Yes, mother, do please tell me more about this woman and her promiscuous affair with the postman while I sit here and wait for my best-friend-but-maybe-not-anymore to ring me to settle this tempest in my stomach. The tempest raged on well into the evening, and the bland stew that Sonia Kaspbrak proffered went uneaten on the kitchen counter.

Soon enough, and without consciously realising, Eddie stopped waiting for the phone to ring.

– X –

“I can’t sleep”

“Come in, Rich”

Clasping the blanket tightly between his hands, Richie shuffled into the room.

“This is weird”

“Is it?”

“Not really,” Richie said, flopping down onto Eddie’s bed. “That’s precisely why it’s so weird”

Not knowing how to respond, Eddie busied himself putting his study materials away into neat piles. Pencils here, anthology of renaissance poetry there, a packet of post-its balanced neatly on top.

“Are you okay?” Eddie asked, and Richie nodded his head in response, before pausing for a beat, and then shaking it.

“Not really, Eddie Spaghetti, not really”

“Oh.”

A pause. A pause that stretched for slightly too long, and then a great, deafening silence. Richie lay on the bed, arm thrown dramatically over his eyes, and Eddie stood awkwardly in the corner of his own room, a stranger imposing on an intimate moment, made even more painful by the fact that he didn’t know whether he was allowed to console Richie anymore, or whether Richie would shrug him off as he would a barely-there acquaintance.

“Aren’t you going to ask me what’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” Eddie asked dutifully, but remained shielded by the comfort of his corner, a poignant distance maintained between them.

“Ah,” Richie said, a glint in his eye that Eddie didn’t recognise, “don’t worry about it. I’m fine, really I am. Just got a case of can’t-sleep-itis. I’ll survive, the prognosis looks pretty good”

Considering it was the first time in just under a month that they had spent more than brief moments in the hallways together, small waves and tiny smiles at each other over the raging sea of other students, before one of them got swept up in the tide and was pulled away before greetings could be exchanged.

“I’m going to take a lit elective,” Richie said, as easily as if he’d just told Eddie that it was going to snow the next day. “Oh, and it’s supposed to snow tomorrow”

“Pardon?”

“Yeah, the weather dude said we were supposed to get a few inches over-night, but I’ve got a few inches I can give him overnight if you catch my drift,” Richie said, grabbing at his crotch gratuitously.

‘What? No – gross. I’m not – No. I meant the lit elective, you’re taking a lit class?”

“Yup,” Richie said, popping the ‘p’ like it was bubblegum, “I got it all sorted a few weeks ago, actually. I’m taking the ‘poetry and experiment’ class”

“Ben’s taking that, he said he’s enjoying it so far, he said it was helping him push the boundaries of genre, and he said that –”

“Are we a prospectus now? Push the boundaries of genre?”

“That’s what Ben said!” Eddie said, defensively, and crossed his arms over his chest. Richie laughed at him, a laugh that Eddie had never heard before, that sounded more like a shaky gasp than genuine laughter.

“C’mere, you moron. Why are you stood in the corner, all blair-witchy?”

“I dunno”

“Yes, you do”

“No, I’m just – stood. There isn’t a reason for –”

“Yes, there is”

“No there isn’t!”

“Eds…”

“Richard”

“Come sit with me”

“Okay”

As he sat down next to Richie, Eddie could feel his heart thumping like a pneumatic drill, hammering against the cage of his ribs. He was sure that Richie could hear it too, but if he could, Richie didn’t mention it. All he did was swoop his arms around Eddie’s shoulders and tug him down, and Eddie squawked as he fell, but he still let Richie rearrange his limbs so they were sat close together, Richie tucked around Eddie’s side neatly.

“Have you spoken to Bev?” Eddie asked.

“Hmm,” Richie hummed, stroking a hand through Eddie’s hair thoughtfully. “She rang me yesterday, something about getting the old gang back together. What do you think?”

“I nearly said no”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I nearly said that I didn’t care if we all drifted apart, that that’s what happens to people when you go to college, everyone says so”

“Not everyone fought, and brutally murdered, a demonic clown from outer space with their friends before they’d even finished going through puberty, some of us still haven’t finished going through –”

The sentence died in Richie’s mouth as Eddie pummelled him with closed fists, shrieking as he did so.

“Fuck you, Richard!”

“Hey! Hey now, I’m – Jesus, short-stack, I was joking! Suspend the attack, call off the troops, ooof!”

After flipping Richie off, Eddie turned so he was lying on his side, so that his back was flush against Richie’s front.

“I know, I – I guess I was starting to forget”

“Forget?”

“Forget what it was like when we were all together, that – that feeling I get in my gut when I’m with you all, like – like this is where I’m supposed to be, you know? Like, these are my people”

Richie nodded.

“Yeah, yeah I get you. I said yes, but mainly because I was scared Red would come at me with those massive fabric shears if I said no”

With that, all of the tension drained out of the room, and out of Eddie’s spine. They spent the evening in Eddie’s bed, always curled around each other, always talking in hushed tones, always breathing in sync. When he was sure that Richie was in a deep sleep, Eddie, trying not to think too much about the reasons why, logged onto the college portal and swapped out ‘contemporary literary theory and its applications’ for ‘poetry and experiment’.

When Eddie woke in the morning, Richie had gone.

– X –

The next time Eddie saw Richie was just under a week later, when Richie loped into the seminar room for Poetry and Experiment. Eddie, who always sat next to a very enthusiastic Benjamin Hanscom, shrunk down in his seat, as if he could hide behind the three large textbooks on his table. No such luck.

“Well, fancy seeing you two fine feathered fellas here!”

“Hiya, Richie! Eddie told me you were going to start taking this course, it’s great to have you!” Ben said, pulling out the empty chair next to him, before gesturing for Richie to sit down.

“Ah, yes, he told me that you’d be here, handsome, but not that he took this course also! Holding out on me, Kaspbrak?”

“Well, actually, Eddie has only just transferred to this course, he dropped –”

“Hey! Ben, esslay ofyay ethay ansferredtray,” Eddie hissed at Ben, but Richie just raised an eyebrow in challenge.

“oureyay utecay enwhay oureyay anickedpay. You’re not the only one that speaks Pig Latin here, Eds”

“Shut up”

“Ever the charmer, isn’t he, Ben? Just gets my heart a’thumpin,” Richie said, before he reached down into his backpack and pulled out a notebook. “Right, I don’t know about you but I’m ready to flex my poetry muscles, you up for the challenge, Kaspbrak?”

“Bring it on, Richard”

– X –

The seminar was a disaster. Each of the students stood up at the end of the two hour session to read out what they had so far, and Eddie was the last to go. He stood up with trembling knees and read from his notebook in wavering, hushed tones.

“…That way, she’d live forever. That’s, uh, that’s all I’ve got”

Richie yawned, long, dramatic, and fake, from his corner of the room.

“Blank verse? Pretty uninspired, Eds. It’s okay, though, we can’t all be John Milton, no hard feelings”

“At least I don’t have a stupid fucking TS Eliot tattoo,” Eddie shot back lightning fast, face immediately creasing in embarrassment when the professor shot up, scolding him for his profanity.

“Now, enough! Sit down you two. Eddie, that poem was a good start indeed, but I am tempted to side with Richie on this, blank verse was certainly the easy way out. I have a few other notes …”

Immediately after the seminar had ended and the professor had dismissed them, Eddie shot out of the room as quickly as a buttered bullet.

“Eddie! Wait!”

It was Ben.

“I have a message to deliver to the whole class, could you come back a sec?”

Reluctantly, Eddie slunk back into the classroom to find Ben stood at the front of the room, several pieces of paper in his hands.

“Right, as most of you, or at least some of you, know, I’ve wanted to start an undergraduate literary journal here at U of M for some time, and I managed to convince the dean to give me the funding so … here we are! I’ve got enough writers for the criticism and stuff, but I need some essayists and poets to flesh out the fiction sections. If you want to submit work, please take a signup sheet! Thanks, guys!”

As soon as Ben had stopped talking, and a small huddle of people had gathered around him, Eddie slipped out of the room again.

“Eds! Wait!”

It was Richie

“Jesus, I didn’t know such little legs could move so fast,” he continued, jogging to catch up with Eddie who didn’t slow down.

“What do you want, Richie?”

“Not signing up for the journal? I thought you’d want to submit She Who Mocks or something”

“Naw, like the professor said, it was uninspired,” Eddie mumbled, taking a sharp left turn, almost losing Richie to the thrum of the crowds in the process.

“I don’t think the prof used that word, Eds, and I was just ribbing you when I said it, you know that”

“Drop it, Rich. I’m not signing up”

“Well, neither am I, so you’re in good company. Mike ran into me earlier and said that he and Stan were going to be at the ‘bucks, shall we?”

“Never call it ‘the ‘bucks’ again and you’ve got yourself a deal”

– X –

To: BenjaminH@hotmail.com:

So … this journal thing

From: BenjaminH@AOL.com:

you gonna sign up? :O

To: BenjaminH@AOL.com:

Thinking about it. What do I have to do?

From: BenjaminH@AOL.com:

send me the poem you’d like to submit, and if it’s successful it’ll be in the Christmas vol which will be published just b4 the end of this semester!!!!!!

To: BenjaminH@AOL.com:

If I do submit something, which I might not, you can’t tell R

From: BenjaminH@AOL.com:

why?

To: BenjaminH@AOL.com:

Just don’t, okay?

From: BenjaminH@AOL.com:

he likes u, u know

To: BenjaminH@AOL.com:

*rolling eye emoji*

From: BenjaminH@AOL.com:

Send it to my college email when you’re done x

Eddie logged off of AOL messenger, opened a blank word document, and took a deep breath.

– X –

Eddie had almost forgotten about the literary journal when a copy of The Maine Literary Review landed in his pigeon hole one frosty December morning. He blinked stupidly at the journal for a few seconds, before he picked it up gingerly, as if it might explode in his hands. Holding his breath, and anxious for a reason he couldn’t place, he flicked to the contents page, and there it was, in size twelve Calibri font.

Birdbones by Mr Bleaney (p. 23)

“Huh,” Eddie breathed out loud to no one but himself. “Huh”

He was now, technically, a published poet. Edward F. Kaspbrak, published poet. It had a ring to it. Not that anyone would know that he, demure little Eddie, had actually written birdbones, and if anyone asked, of course he’d deny ownership. But he knew, and that was enough.

He scanned the rest of the contents page briefly, and his eye was caught by one particular name.

You by De Profundis (p. 24)

Eddie rolled his eyes. De Profundis. Almost certainly a pseudonym chosen for the writers affinity for Oscar Wilde.. He flicked to page twenty-four, and read the sonnet once, twice, three times before he shoved the journal in the front zip pocket of his backpack. Trite. That was the word that most accurately described what he had just read. Trite, with a sort of cloying optimism that turned Eddie’s stomach and made his teeth itch.

When he returned to his dorm in the brief interlude between classes, he started jotting a few lines of verse down, mind swimming with You, You, You, and then, before he’d given it much conscious thought, a new poem was staring up at him, fresh and shiny. And, within it, a small, barely-there jab at De Profundis.

         … From the depths of vacuity, he sits, Promethean, ….

When he found the time, Eddie typed the poem up and sent it off to Ben without giving it a second thought.

– X –

“You’re late again”

“I know, I know”

“Richie’s late too”

“I know”

“You walked in together”

“I am aware”

“Do you have anything you’d like to –”

“Absolutely not,” Eddie said, turning his body away from Bev and her inquisition, and towards Mike and Stan who were currently debating the merits of IHOP syrup over the stuff Stan buys at Trader Joes.

Richie sat next to Eddie, elbows on the table, head cradled in the palm of his hands. He was watching Eddie. Eddie could see him, out of the corner of his eye, helped by the fact that Richie was making no attempt to hide his gaze.

“Have I got syrup on my face?” Eddie asked eventually, squirming under Richie’s gaze.

“Nope”

“A bit of pancake? A forgotten smudge of shaving foam?”

“Don’t joke, Eds, we all know you don’t need to shave yet”

“Asshole,” Eddie scolded, and he tried to shove at Richie with his hand but Richie caught it mid-air, and pulled it down towards the familiar crackled leather of the booth.

Eddie tried to pull his hand away, but Richie held tight, wrapping Eddie’s smaller hand up in his. They weren’t holding hands, not really, but Eddie’s hand was soft and pliant in Richie’s and it almost felt like something, something that just friends don’t do.

“So,” Ben started, drumming his fingers on the table in what Eddie imagined Ben hoped looked inconspicuous, “the first volume of my journal came out”

“I’m so proud of you, babe,” Bev said, running a hand through Ben’s sandy hair.

“Aw, I barely did anything. I had some really great submissions, actually. Especially from two poets in particular, really chalk and cheese, but I put them together because –”

The rest of Ben’s sentence faded to white noise as Eddie felt Richie’s hand tense around his. Eddie looked up at Richie, and was met with a soft smile and a squeeze for his efforts.

“You okay?” Richie whispered.

“I’m fine, I’m great, yeah, it’s all groovy”

“Groovy?”

“S’what I said”

“Why are you nervous?”

“I’m not nervous”

“Yes you are”

“M’not”

“Is it because I’m holding your hand?”

“Absolutely not”

And, as if to prove it, Eddie wiggled his fingers in between Richie’s, interlocking them so that they were holding hands properly.

“Eddie, have you looked at Ben’s journal yet? Inquiring minds want to know,” Stan asked, an innocent enough question but panic shot through Eddie’s spine like adrenaline.

“Uh, sort of. I had a flick through, I wasn’t that impressed”

Richie’s thumb stilled from where it was rubbing small circles on Eddie’s skin.

“You weren’t?” Ben asked, sounding mildly hurt.

“Oh, I mean, it was put together beautifully and your editor’s note was brilliant, and some of the essays were very good, very original stuff about Frankenstein and I liked the thought piece about the influence of Icelandic ghost stories on nineteenth-century culture, but some of the poems were …"

Eddie paused, and Richie didn’t breathe.

“Some of the poems were awful”

“Awful?” Richie asked, voice quieter and more serious than Eddie had heard it in a long time.

“Well, maybe not awful but … cliché. Chocolate box poetry, a dime a dozen type stuff”

“Care to name drop any particularly awful pieces?”

“Well, that birdbones poem was pretty shite, and the pseudonym was ridiculous”

“You like that Larkin poem, though. You read it to me when we moved out of Derry, said that it made you feel old and young all at the same time,” Richie said, voice even but Eddie could sense there existed an undercurrent of annoyance.

“Well yes, but … still,” Eddie finished feebly, waving his hands around as if they could speak better than his mouth.

“Huh,” was all Richie said, before excusing himself to the bathroom, and, without providing an explanation to the rest of his friends, Eddie followed him.

Richie was standing in front of the sink when Eddie pushed his way into the men’s room, staring at himself in the grimey mirror.

“Are you okay?” Eddie asked, leaning against the wall and trying not to think about the hundreds of other patrons who had also leant against that very wall, very probably without having washed their hands or their other appendages properly.

“Huh? Me? I’m fine, Eddie Spaghetti, don’t you worry about me”

“I’m not worried, I’m just … concerned”

“Eddie,” Richie laughed, turning around, “they’re synonyms. They mean the same thing”

“No they don’t!” Eddie insisted, “they mean entirely different things. Worry is more extreme, I am … diluted worry, worry with added water”

“Whatever you say, my little worrywart,” Richie said, pushing his way out of the bathroom to re-join the others at their booth. Eddie followed, unconvinced but not willing to push it further.

– X –

The next volume of The Maine Literary Review landed in Eddie’s pigeon hole three weeks after Christmas break. As he had before, Eddie flicked to the contents page with shaking fingers. And, as had been the case before, there he was, or rather, there Mr Bleaney was, right there, immortalised on the page.

From the Depths by Mr Bleaney (p. 14)

Eighteen by De Profundis (p. 15)

There they were, right next to each other, nestled on opposite pages like the best of friends. The name of Eddie’s poem would surely catch the attention of De Profundis, and if that didn’t, the reference in the poem surely would, if De Profundis would actually bother to read Eddie’s poem, of course.

– X –

Eddie would always remember the first time De Profundis name checked him in one of their poems. He’d been idly flicking through the Journal, not having been enticed by the title of his self-proclaimed rivals offering, – The Sailor Who Fell From The Stars – and he’d decided to briefly scan the poem when a particular stanza caught his eye.

                      From the depths of vacuity

                      All I see are flowered curtains, thin and frayed,

                      Falling to within five inches of the sill.

                      Do you warrant better? I don’t know ….

A fist made of stone and poetry punched Eddie in the stomach. De Profundis used his words. De Profundis used his words, spat them back in his face, and then stamped on them for good measure.

This was, as far as Eddie was concerned, a declaration of war, and Eddie wasn’t about to surrender.

– X –

Void. by Mr Bleaney (1st Feb 2003)

… the winds are cold and so are you,

baseless insults, show yourself ….

Testify by De Profundis (11th March 2003)

… the winds grow tired of your howling, the void will spit you out ….

Everything by Mr Bleaney (23rd April 2003)

one day

you will bleed the words I

breathed into your skin

and there will be no bandage

and you will rot in a pool of naïve

sincerity you never deserved

sssssstutter by De Profundis (15th May 2003)

… my fuh-fuh-friend, don’t bluh-bluh-bleed on the carpet,

Your wuh-words will stain …

I am not your friend by Mr Bleaney (4th June 2003)

See above.

“Eddie,” Ben sighed, the crackle of the phone signal obscuring his words somewhat, “That last submission wasn’t really a poem, was it”

“Who are you, Benjamin Hanscom, to tell me that that wasn’t a poem. You’re telling me that that doesn’t count as a post-structuralist, postmodernist attempt to subvert the reader’s expectations about what poetry actually is and force them to look up for answers? Up to the title, perhaps? You need to broaden your horizons, Sir”

“Eddie.”

“Yes, yes, fine. I know it was a bullshit excuse for a poem, but you didn’t have to publish it!” Eddie said, voice verging on shrill.

Ben sighed. “Yes I did. You would have accused me of ‘not appreciating your art’ if I didn’t. And, at any rate, I heard from De Profundis a few days before”

“… You did?”

“Yes. He asked if you’d sent in a response to stutter”

“Ssssstutter,” Eddie corrected, causing Ben to laugh. “Why did he want to know?”

“Ask him yourself”

Eddie rolled his eyes, but, upon realising that Ben couldn’t see him roll his eyes over the phone, Eddie just groaned.

“I’ve got to go, I’m meeting Rich at Coffee Hoppers in 10”

“Enjoy your date”

“Thanks – wait, I mean, it’s not a date! Ben! It’s not a –”

Ben had already hung up.

– X –

When Eddie arrived at the warm, hazily lit coffee shop, Richie was already there, sat on one of the plush, squishy sofas in the corner with two steaming mugs sat in front of him on the table.

“Hey, Rich. What do I owe you?” Eddie said, sitting down next to Richie.

“Naw, I got you, Eds. It’s my pleasure to keep you in your disgustingly sweet coffee-but-not-really drinks,” Richie said, batting his eyelashes at Eddie.

Although it had no reason to be, the atmosphere was charged. They were sat close together, knees knocking every time one of them shifted, but this was no unusual thing. They often sat close together, if not on top of each other, Richie’s legs sprawled across Eddie’s lap, or Eddie perched on the end of Richie’s knees when they were in Bill’s beaten up old truck. No, the unusual thing about this particular coffee date, was the fact that as soon as Eddie sat down, Richie grabbed his hand.

“So,” Richie started, “the new volume of Ben’s journal comes out tomorrow”

“Does it?”

“Yup. Have you been keeping up with it?”

“Sort of, not really, I don’t know. Have you seen the new adaptation they’re doing of that Stephen King book? It looks pretty good, Bill said’ he’d go see it with me, I know that –”

“Ah, yeah yeah, I’ve seen the advert. It looks … fine. Why’re you going with Big Bill, though?”

Eddie blinked.

“Because … he likes films like that?”

“So do I,” Richie huffed, knitting his eyebrows in a way that should look petulant but instead just looks endearing.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, Oh”

“Do you, I mean – you don’t have to, but would you like –”

“Eddie Spaghetti, it would be an honour to escort you to the movies to get our scream on”

“Our scream on?” Eddie said faintly, and Richie laughed.

“Y’know, like, screaming at horror movies. Get your mind out of the gutter, you dirty bird”

Well before Eddie was ready to let Richie go, the clock struck four in the afternoon, and Richie had to leave to pick up his shift at the local video store.

“I’ll ring you about arranging our movie date, Eds,” Richie said, wriggling into his jacket and smoothing his hair down.

Eddie laughed. “Yeah, yeah, our date”

“Um. Yeah? Like, holding hands in the dark, I’ll buy the popcorn if you buy the tickets, type thing?”

“Oh, like, a real real date?”

“I mean – I thought that much was obvious, Eds”

“Uh – I guess it is now. I’ll ring you, or you ring me – you ring me, yeah, I’ll wait for your call, or I’ll – yeah. Date”

“You’re ridiculous, Spaghetti head”

And with that, Richie was planting a kiss on the top of Eddie’s head, before bustling out of the coffee shop and disappearing out of view.

On the table, lay a book. It was face down, and Eddie grabbed it, standing up with the intention of chasing after Richie, who had forgotten it, but he thought better of it. He’d give it back to Richie in their next Poetry and Experiment seminar, or on their … date. Whichever came first.

Eddie sat back down, and turned the book around to look at the cover.

                     De Profundis and Other Writings

                      Oscar Wilde

                      Penguin Classics

Huh.

There were several small pieces of paper sticking out of the book, and Eddie could see that the pieces were littered with the familiar scribbled scrawl of Richie’s writing. With curiosity getting the better of him, Eddie gently tugged a few of the pieces of paper out of the book.

The first piece had a few lines from a Keats poem scribbled on it,

Sweet, sweet is the greeting of eyes,

And sweet is the voice in its greeting,

When adieus have grown old and goodbyes

Fade away where old Time is retreating.  

The second had a stanza of a poem Eddie didn’t recognise written on it, but the last, the last one he did recognise. It was only a line, but it was a line he’d stared at for hours, trying to come up with a response, wracking his brain, willing his fingers.

the winds grow tired of your howling, the void will spit you out

Without even thinking, Eddie could name the poem, and the author.

De Profundis.

Could it … ?

The bell above the door of the coffee shop rang out, and Eddie’s head snapped up. Richie was walking back over to him, hair and coat damp with late winter rain. Eddie shoved the pieces of paper back into the book with trembling fingers.

“Sorry, Eds, forgot my,” Richie gestured at the book sat bereft on the table, before picking it up and tucking it into his messenger bag.

Eddie nodded wordlessly.

“Okay well, I really gotta run, so I’ll see you – later?”

Eddie nodded again, face contorted into a grimace that, try as he might, wouldn’t be chased off of his face. Richie left without another word, but shot glances at Eddie over his shoulder until he disappeared from view once more.

– X –

“You’re … early,” Bev said, swirling the straw around in her Bloody Mary.

“I know”

“Is Richie not with you?”

“Nope”

“Where is he?”

“How the fuck am I supposed to know?” Eddie snapped, regretting it immediately when Bev’s eyebrows shot up. “Sorry, I just – stressed. I have a lot of homework due”

“Hmmm,” Bev hummed, unconvinced, but her train of thought was interrupted by Richie’s arrival.

“Good afternoon, fellow human people!” He said, slotting into the booth next to Eddie.

“Hullo, Rich” Mike said, ignoring Richie’s request for a fist bump in favour of continuing to absently scritch a hand through Stan’s hair.

“Lame,” Richie shot back, before turning to Eddie. “I’ve looked at the showing times for the movie, can you do Friday?”

“Uh, no. I’ve got – homework”

“Sunday?”

“Homework”

“Next Tuesday?”

“Uh, homework,” Eddie supplied feebly, shrugging his shoulders.

“Oh, uh – okay. Maybe you could pick the date then? Let me know when you’re free?” Richie said, the timidity of his voice tugging at Eddie’s heart.

“Yeah, yeah – I’ll ring you”

The conversation ebbed and flowed for several hours, before Richie, drunk as a skunk, began to tap on his glass with a spoon covered in whipped cream.

“Attention! Ladies and germs, can I have your attention”

“Jesus Christ,” Stan said, rolling his eyes. “About to announce that you’re pregnant with Eddie’s child, finally?”

“What? Ew, gross. Not everyone shares your fondness for MPREG fanfiction, Stanley,” Richie said, earning a fork to the head for his trouble. “No, I have another announcement to make. I, Richard “Big Dick” Tozier, am a published poet”

Eddie’s stomach dropped to the floor.

“Yes, it’s true,” Richie continued, “I have been sending in work to Benny-boy’s little journal and he’s been publishing it! Fancy that, you all being in the presence of a celebrity”

“Hey, Rich! That’s pretty cool!” Mike said, reaching over the table to shake Richie’s hand.

“I thought you told me not to tell anyone?” Ben asked.

“Yeah, I didn’t want you telling anyone, but this is me telling everyone, so that’s different,” Richie said, sitting back down and he leant his head against Eddie’s shoulder.

“Are you proud of me, Eds?”

“Yes, very proud,” Eddie deadpanned, wringing his hands in his lap.

“I have a rival, you know. I’m Byron, and ‘Mr Bleaney,” Richie mocked, “‘Mr Bleaney’ is Polidori”

“Oh really?” Eddie said, trying to keep his voice as calm and even.

“Yup! He started it, taking the piss out of my pseudonym, when his is just as stupid. You said so yourself! That stupid Larkin poem. I know you like it, Eds, but I don’t. Too bleak. And his poetry,” Richie mock-retched, “God is it depressing. Not a single hopeful theme, would it kill the guy to use a happy metaphor for once? Even your poetry is less dull”

“My poetry?”

“Yup! You’re a much better writer than Mr Bleaney”

“Good to know,” Eddie replied sharply, but Richie was already distracted, talking to Ben about his latest submission.

After brunch, Eddie disappeared before Richie could stop him.

– X –

The first time Eddie realised he liked Richie in a more-than-friends sort of way, they’d been sitting in the back of Bill’s rusty old truck, on their way to the drive-in. It was the night before Halloween, and their local drive-in was showing back to back classic Zombie films into the early hours of the morning. Bill had bribed all of the Loser’s to go with him, with the promise of all-they-could eat popcorn, a promise Richie took as a challenge. They had been sat together in the truck bed, three blankets wrapped around their shoulders, huddled together for warmth. Richie had hooked an arm around Eddie’s shoulder and pulled him in, so that Eddie’s head was nestled neatly in the crook of Richie’s neck.

“I’ll keep you warm, Eds, don’t you worry. I won’t let you turn into an eds-icle”

“You’re jokes are so fuckin’ lame, Rich”

“You love them,” Richie had said confidently, eyes sparkling in the late October moonlight, and Eddie was sucker punched by the realisation that it wasn’t just Richie’s jokes that he loved.

– X –

Nearly a month later, someone knocked at Eddie’s door, a knock that was shortly followed by a muffled voice.

“Eddie?”

A pause.

“Eddie? I know you’re in there”

Another pause. Eddie held his breath.

“Eds, please”

Breath escaped Eddie’s lips without permission.

“Rich?” he called out from the safety of his blanket nest, voice hoarse from lack of use.

“Eddie”

Another pause.

Richie sighed audibly from behind the door. “Eddie, I can’t sleep.”

“Have you tried counting sheep?” Eddie said, and he shifted from the confines of his bed,  padded across the room with silent steps, and stood with his arm extended, palm flat against the wood of the door.

“I’m sorry,” Richie said, and Eddie pulled his hand back from the door, as if he’d been burnt.

“What?”

“I said I’m – I’m sorry”

“What for?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but I’m sure I did something that made you pull away from me like this, and whatever it was, I’m sorry”

The large, angry lump in Eddie’s throat refused to be swallowed.

“Richie, Rich, you haven’t – you haven’t done anything”

“Then why won’t you let me in?” Richie pleaded, voice cracking, and that was enough, enough of a catalyst to tug on Eddie’s poor, weary heart.

Eddie wrenched the door open, and Richie all but fell onto his chest.

“Rich, I’m the one who should be saying sorry, I’ve been an asshole”

“No you haven’t”

“Yes I have!”

“Well … maybe a tiny bit of an asshole. I just – I don’t get it”

Eddie shrugged, arms still wrapped loosely around Richie’s shoulders. “There isn’t really much to get, I’m just an asshole who doesn’t deserve friends like you, I guess”

Richie looked up, eyes shiny. “Friends?”

“Uh –” Eddie stammered, “I don’t know, Rich. You mess with my head, you know”

“You mess with mine too,” Richie said, and then they said nothing more, just stood in the middle of Eddie’s shitty little dorm room, and embraced.

When Eddie woke in the morning, Richie was gone. What lay in his place, next to Eddie’s head on the pillow, was a note.

          I’ll wait for you at Coffee Hoppers after class

          My bounty is as boundless as the sea,

          My love as deep; the more I give to thee,

          The move I have, for both are infinite.

          R x

As the piece of paper fluttered to the floor, Eddie knew what it was that he must do.

– X –

I Loved You First by Mr Bleaney (21st August 2003)

         I loved you first: but afterwards your love

Outsoaring mine, sang such a loftier song

As drowned the friendly cooings of my dove.

Which owes the other most? My love was long,

And yours one moment seemed to wax more strong;

I loved and guessed at you, you construed me

And loved me for what might or might not be –

Nay, weights and measures do us both a wrong.

          For verily love knows not ‘mine’ or ‘thine’;

With separate ‘I’ and ‘thou’ free love has done,

For one is both and both are one in love:

Rich love knows nought of ‘thine that is not mine;’

Both have the strength and both the length thereof,

Both of us, of the love which makes us one.

By Mr Bleaney / Eds.

– X –

Hammering on the door.

“EDDIE!”          

Silence.

“EDDIE! Seriously, open the fucking door!”

More hammering.

“Eddie! –”

The door opened and two bodies collide.

“How long have you –”

“I didn’t know how to tell you –”

“You write so beautifully –”

“I love you –”

“I love you –”

“Rich?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up”

With a renewed boldness, Eddie leant in and pressed his lips to Richie’s, and, for the first time, they wrote poetry together.

[eds-trashmouth]

Hi. I’m a fucking nerd. So here’s some dungeons and dragons head canons.

I personally fucking love dnd. And I’ve been thinking about this for so long. And I could make a fic but I don’t think anyone else cares about dnd so. Just head canons lmao.

-

- Bill is the dungeon master of course. The losers let him test out his new story ideas by playing through them.

-They’re not all fantasy medieval based but those are the groups favorites.

-They love sitting down with Bill and cranking out storylines for the rest of the group to learn gradually (throughout the game)

-Everyone talks out of game about all the interesting things they have hidden in their backstories. Richie is the impatient bitch he is and tries worming answers out of everyone but no one says anything.

-They all have their go to race and class. After playing for years, they’ve really grown into their characters.

-Ben plays a Dwarf Paladin. Richie jokingly mentioned a dwarf while they were all talking about it once but even tho he knew Richie was picking at his weight. Ben fell in love with the idea.

-He always speaks in character, a deeper kinda southern voice, and he’s on a quest to find his brother in arms. A dwarf who was sent northward in search of an artifact held by the high elf.

-He plays lawful good, always trying to do the right thing and he gets in fights with Richie’s chaotic character over decisions all the time.

-Beverly plays a Half-elven monk. She wanted something feminine, the elf, and something badass, like a monk. She’s a heavy hitter in battle and a smooth talker in sticky situations.

-She 100% flirts with every hot girl NPC they come across. Often getting rewarded extra for her sweet talking.

-She’s trained in many martial art styles. Her main quest is to find the people responsible for her families assassination. You see they were known in the high counsel for their knowledge and wisdom. (Basically they were important people and someone ordered an assassination on them)

-She was only a baby when they were murdered and she doesn’t remember much about them. Other than what she is told so it’s a very difficult mission.

-Richie is 100% a fucking bard. This was the easiest for me to decide. He’s probably a human. Or a Dragonborn bc their cool.

-He flirts with literally everything. He tries to seduce the monsters their fighting and tries to sleep with every NPC they come across. Make, female, non-binary. He doesn’t care. He’s tryna fuck it.

-He’s not a heavy damage dealer but he’s irreplaceable in the group regardless. He always inspires the group, bullies the enemy (if he failed at seducing them of course), and even heals if they need him too.

-Richie hasn’t decided his main objective yet. Bill has tried to help him many times but he just has too many incoherent ideas. He definitely wants to become the best bard in the lands.

-Eddie plays a gnome Cleric. He loves helping and healing everyone when they’re battling and he even has some kickass damaging spells as well.

-He has a spiritual weapon (a very good cleric spell) shaped like a giant inhaler. It was Richie’s idea and he always smiles when Eddie summons it but he never mentions it. He also has spirit guardians (another great cleric spell) in the shapes of red crosses (like the medical sign yk), stethoscopes, and those knee reflex hammers.

-It wouldn’t be the losers without Eddie and Richie bickering. They’re constantly arguing with each other over Richie’s actions but also constantly flirting. Richie thinks they’re endgame for sure. Eddie is undecided.

-Stan plays an elven rogue/ranger. He fights like a rogue but he can track and understand nature like a ranger. He uses daggers and sneak attacks to fuck shit up.

-He’s stealthy as fuck and can track anything in minutes. (Depending on the rolls of course) His love for birds really helped him decide to be more on the ranger side. But he didn’t want a bow. He wanted to be in their face then be able to get out.

-His character is quiet most the time. Really playing on the rogue class. But he’ll always have a comeback for anything Richie says. He definitely has the best one liners in the group. Even if Richie disagrees.

-Stan is the best at keeping quiet about his character. He doesn’t want anyone else knowing what he’s really after. The heiress to the throne of his people in the North. A half elf whose been missing for years.

-Mike is a Druid. An Aasimar Druid. He loves talking to animals and plants. He is constantly telling the trees around them that they are only passing through. The trees don’t respond but the party sure gets a kick out of it every time.

-His character is female, mostly so Bev wasn’t the only female. He even does a slight feminine voice when in character. Which always gets a laugh. There’s just something about hearing the deepest voice try to do a high pitched female voice that just insights laughter every time.

-Mike’s favorite wild shape (druids can turn into beasts) is a Giant Eagle bc they’re insanely smart and can fly. Also bc Stan likes birds. But he doesn’t mention that. He even asks Stan’s opinion on which animal would be best for the situation.

-Mike thinks Stan and him are endgame as well. But he’s so subtly flirting that Stan has no idea. But even if he has to play the slow game. He wants that elven ass.

[yikestripes]

School’s Out for Summer: Bill Denbrough x Fem!Reader

Here’s my first IT lil writing blurb! I’m so excited to get back into writing and stuff, especially since I got yeeted into the IT fandom headfirst just 2 weeks ago, and haven’t gotten anything about it off my mind since then but we livin. Anyway, here’s young bill x fem!reader!

Warnings: cursing, kissing, the like.

The summer had barely gotten started, when things around your hometown were getting a little weird. Derry, Maine was never the most particularly normal town, but usually it was nowhere near this... eerie, all the time.

Nevertheless, you were still ready to plunge into the quarry the first day of summer.

Suddenly, a flash of black and red flew in and out of your vision, whipping passed you like you weren’t even there.

It was Richie Tozier, the king of impatience.

“Beep beep, Richie!” You say, smirking.

Richie rolls his eyes and tries to hide the small smile that crossed his lips.

“I don’t usually do slow, but you know what, ANYTHING for you baby!” Richie replied, looking you up and down thirstily.

You just shake your head. Before you get the chance to say something back, your childhood best friend disappeared among the crowd of kids pushing their way out of the school in a mass, ready to start their summer adventures.

Suddenly, a hand fell on your shoulder.

You whipped around, ready to rip away from whoever was touching you, but it was just Bill.

Bill Denbrough.

The love of your life.

Your neighbor.

Your childhood best friend.

Your loser.

“Hey, r-r-ready to g-g-get your ass dunked at the q-quarry?” He stuttered, grinning from ear to ear.

“Me, get MY ass dunked? Please!” You lightly nudged his shoulder as you walked through the crowded hallway.

“P-please what? Don’t w-wanna get your hair w-w-wet?” He ruffled your hair as you tried to swat his hand away.

Bill was, at best, a head or two taller than you; swatting his hands away every time he tried to put his hand near your hair was difficult, and most of the time useless, since Stan would usually tag team it, and get your nicely done hair frizzy anyway.

“Bill stop!” You whined.

Bill laughed and let his arm come to rest on your shoulder, making heat rise in your cheeks. This isn’t the first time he’s done this, and most certainly not the last, but it sure made you wonder.

“Puh-LEASE! He’s so obviously in love with you!” Beverly said, running a hand through her messy hair.

“I don’t know Bev, have you SEEN the way he looks at you?” You let your mind wander to all the times you’ve caught Bill staring at Bev, especially when he thought neither of you were looking.

Little did you know, he was always staring at you. The way your hair fell and framed your face, the way your whole face lit up when you were talking about something you’re passionate about, or even when you showed all the boys up at the quarry, the first day they brought you.

He had been in love with you since the day he met you. But he couldn’t ever find the words to tell you.

A voice to your left took you out of your thoughts; it was Ben, going on and on about some new fact he read about in his latest musings in the library.

You were half paying attention, still slightly preoccupied by Bill’s arm that had since deserted your shoulder.

His hand was so close to yours, that in a single move you could reach out and grab it, and never let go. You played with the idea for a minute, had it gone poorly, you could’ve found some convenient excuse. You didn’t mean to, you weren’t paying attention, you thought he was grabbing yours, the possibilities were endless.

Of course Bill would believe you, he would believe anything you said, just because you said it.

Unbeknownst to you, he wanted more than anything to just reach out and take your hand in his, and finally tell you how he felt.

The idea made him more sick than the time Richie made the loser’s ride “The Vomit Comet” 6 times in a day.

Bill absentmindedly smiled at the memory.

You had brought your new camera you had just gotten for your birthday, which you were celebrating at the theme park, and took pictures of every possible moment.

Eddie lecturing the Losers on how unhealthy the food was and how questionable the rides were, Richie making some snarky comment to Eddie about doing it with his mom, Eddie and Richie bickering.

There were also some really nice photos; Bev had taken the camera when you weren’t paying attention, and snapped a few really cute candids of you and Bill laughing, smiling, and looking at each other the way only two childhood sweethearts could.

You got shots of Bev playing games and smacking Richie in the back of the head, then Richie giving you both the finger.

“HAPPY SUMMER LOSERS!” Bev yells, jumping on your back.

“Talley ho and pip pip my good fellows! We must be on our way!” Richie said, causing Eddie to roll his eyes.

“I hate when you do that accent!” He muttered, fiddling with his fanny pack.

“What’s that, Eddie? I can’t hear you over the sound of me fucking your mom!”

The bickering ensued for the entire walk to the quarry.

“Will they ever stop?” You wondered out loud, only half serious.

“N-nope. Not even w-w-when we’re adults,” Bill replied with a shrug. “They’ll g-go on this way f-f-forever.”

“Do you think we’ll all still be friends when we’re adults? Like, our parents ages?” Stanley asked, sounding worried.

Bev slung her arm across Stan’s shoulders and ran a hand through his messy curls.

“Of course we will, kid!” Stan shook her off, trying to contain his smile despite his worry.

The brief walk from school to the Quarry came to an abrupt end, when you all prepared for the next step. Conquering the cliff for the first time that summer.

“YIPPEE KI-YAY MOTHERFUCKERS!” You screamed at the top of your lungs, flinging yourself off the edge of the jumping cliff, into the cool water below.

You immerse yourself in the water, allowing it to swallow you entirely for a brief moment.

You resurface, and come face to face with Bill, who’s looking up to the sky, trying to convince Ben to jump.

“Come on, New Kid! You can do it!” Beverly encouraged.

“Let’s go Ben! We don’t have all day!” Richie chimed in, impatient.

You catch Bill’s eyes darting towards the other Losers, then at you, making you a bit nervous.

You raise an eyebrow at him; “what?”

“This.” He smirked, and pulled you under.

Once he pulled you down, you opened your eyes and looked around, only to sense a small tap on your shoulder. You whip around to see Bill, a closed mouth smile permeating his face, waving at you.

You grin as he just looks at you, as if you were the only person in the entire world.

For just a moment, you were.

You swim up and break the surface, to see the other Loser’s have already crossed the pond, preoccupied with picking teams for chicken fights.

Bill begins swimming towards them, when you grab his hand underwater.

He looks back at you with his eyebrows raised, speaking without words.

You pull him close to you and wrap your arms around his neck, your eyes darting back and forth between his eyes, and his lips.

He grins, and closes the gap between you two, pulling you into the sweetest kiss you’d ever had.

A kiss that was worth the wait, and then some.

You both pull away and hear the cheers and cries of the Losers from across the Quarry.

“It’s about damn time!”

“FINALLY!”

“I told you so!”

“You owe my 5 bucks!”

Bill grabs your hand and spins you around, smiling at you like you were the only thing on his mind.

You were.

You pulled him close, and kissed him again.

This was going to be the most interesting summer of your life.

And it all started with Bill Denbrough.

[nancythebisexualslutwheeler]

5 Times Richie Wouldn’t Let Eddie See Him and the 1 Time He Did

This is part 2 to this ask. Enjoy! Xx T

1. So eventually the losers are allowed to visit Richie. But the second Eddie steps into the room, sheepish and last, Richie is screaming at him to get out. He doesn’t listen to what anyone has to say about the situation. There’s not much small talk to be made, but if not before this, their bond is solidified and everyone gives him as best of a hug as they can and more or less, tell him that they’re happy he’s alive.

2. The next time he sees Eddie is when his nurse pokes her head in,

“Honey, your friend has been out here quite awhile.”

“I’m not up for company.”

He can feel Eddie’s brown eyes on him.

“Richie,” and there’s so much in that one word. In his name. There’s twenty seven years between them.

“Go home.”

Bev shows up with a store bought cake. She explained to him that she never could bake. It’s funny how it made sense, even though he hadn’t seen her in all of these years.

“Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?”

“The fact that I never sat around and talked boys with you?” He asks with a grin.

“No, you absolute idiot. Eddie? Our Eddie?”

“I just remembered five minutes ago.”

“Richie.”

“What? It’s a non issue.”

“Non issue? He’s been out there everyday. All day.”

“How do you know Beverly? Oh yes, because you’re here every day too. Like a good old friend.”

She snorts,

“Friend? Richie,”

“Don’t. Please don’t.”

“I don’t know what type of repressed shit-“

“Bev,” Richie chokes, tears springing to his eyes, “please don’t.”

Bev pats his hand,

“Okay honey. Okay.”

3. The next time he sees Eddie is when he wakes up. It’s early. Too early. Probably around six. He’s switching out the flowers on Richie’s bedside table. He didn’t realize someone needed to do that. He didn’t realize the flowers were always fresh. Of course it would be Eddie.

Eddie’s standing there, sheepish, hair not even bothered to be slicked back, looking disheveled as all hell. His facial hair is growing and Richie doesn’t think he’d be able to handle him in a full beard. He’s wearing a sweatshirt and track pants. He looks incredibly guilty,

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have,” he starts but cuts himself off when he realizes that Richie isn’t shouting at him.

“It’s fine,” Richie grunts out.

“I’ll just,” he points to the door.

Richie hesitates. He wants Eddie to come closer. He wants to see him. He wants him to say something.

“Can you get me a glass of water?” Richie asks slowly.

He doesn’t know exactly what he’s doing. Doesn’t know what he’s going to say when Eddie brings him his water. What he’s going to do. If he’s going to offer Eddie to sit or-

He’s pulled out of his obsessive thoughts,

“Of course. Of course let me just,” and Eddie rushes out of the room.

Richie hasn’t shut up in 42 years. He knows how to talk. He knows how to talk to Eddie too. Eddie was his best friend, for years. But now, Eddie knows he has a crush on him.

He wants to snort at the thought, a crush, yeah right. He may have had a crush on Eddie when they were ten. But now, now he’s a grown ass man with grown ass feelings about... well, another man.

If he wasn’t a pussy, if he, well if he’d thought about his feelings for Eddie. Processed them like an adult. But when was there time for that? Between near death situations?

By the time Eddie gets back with a glass of water, he’s worked himself into a panic. His hand is shaking when he reaches out to grab the glass and as the back of their hands slide together, he yelps,

“Get out. Get out.”

“Rich, man,”

“Get out!”

And Eddie just gives him a sad smile and walks out. Somehow the little paper hospital cup has a slice of lemon in it and Richie throws it against the wall. He’s fucked.

4. He can feel her presence before she even walks in the door. His sister Sarah is a force to be reckoned with. He hates her because she got all the attractive genes, leaving Richie with fuck all.

She sashays into the room. What are probably designer sunglasses on her head, holding back her wildly curly hair. She has piercing green eyes and she’s tall and thin with a Louis Vuitton bag over her shoulder and a basket of what looks like utter shit in her hands.

“Richie, you almost fucking died on me!” She shouts, throwing her stuff into the nearest arm chair. She’s wearing an olive green pea coat over a black sweater, jeans and a pair of high heeled gray booties.

Sarah is. What is Sarah. She’s a fashion designer. For lack of a better word. She’s not exactly sewing the clothes tooth and nail like high school anymore, nor has Richie seen her with a sketch book recently. The point is she’s rich, and fun and relatable and literally ended up on the Top Bachelors/Bachelorettes List of 2017. It drives Richie crazy. He’s the actually famous one dammit. And he hadn’t even made the cut. It kills him the way Sarah charms her way through interviews. Shit, she gets papped more than him it feels sometimes. Suddenly, all that charm is on him and she crosses the room to throw her arms around him.

She feels like home, and smells like Bath and Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar since she has since she was thirteen and Sarah. The Sarah Tozier is crying into his shoulder.

“I love you Richie. Stop trying to be a hero all the fucking time.”

“A hero?” He asks, slightly confused.

“Yes,” she hisses, “there’s no way you own anything valuable enough to fight off a mugger for.”

He splutters,

“Is this face not valuable Sarah?!” He asks dramatically.

She rolls her eyes,

“Shut up Rich. I’m serious. What the fuck were you thinking? Look at you!”

“What? I’ve never been better,” he grits out.

“Never been better?! Fuck off with the jokes, we’re not seventeen! Never better? Concussion, punctured lung, this fucking cut on your face! Broken ribs. Sprained ankle. Richie, you’re tore the fuck up.” She says, sliding next to him in the bed.

Richie sits in silence, feeling throughly scolded.

“They have coffee here?”

“It’s shitty.”

She nods,

“Aren’t you like some huge celebrity now? Couldn’t you have sprung for a nicer place?”

He knows she’s gotten it off her chest, is less mad now and more concerned, so he slides back into bickering with her,

“First of all, I’m pretty sure no hospital has a fucking Starbucks adjoining the lobby. And second, your taste is about as putrid as that color coat.”

Her jaw drops,

“Take that back!”

“Never!”

“I’m gonna beat your ass when you’re put back together. There’s no way you of all people are insulting the way I dress.”

“I did and I am my beautiful sister.”

“Alright, turn on this damn tv because I’ve heard enough of your mouth already.”

“Your words wound me.”

“They should. I’ve been here like ten minutes.”

There’s a lull in conversation as he turns easily to where he knows Dr.Phil will be on.

“Speaking of which-“

“Here we go.” He starts.

“I know that I did not see that little cutie Eddie fucking Kaspbrak outside!” She all but squeals.

Before Sarah ended up fucking hating them like older sister’s do, back in the day, she had fucking loved them. In fact, Sarah was a big reason that Richie even started thinking about Eddie that way. She was always pushing them together. Not even like that, but in a way that grouped them all up. Bill and Bev. Stan and Mike and Ben. And Eddie and Richie. Eddie and Richie.

“He’s not cute. He’s a grown ass man.”

“I didn’t ask you if he was cute.” She looks him over once. “So a reunion?” She asks. 

Very pointedly, Instead of asking “Is there something you need to tell me?”

“Um yeah. All of us losers were there.”

“Including Eddie fucking Kaspbrak.”

“Sarah.” He says. Daring her, almost.  

“You never settled down.”

“Neither did you,” he argues.

“I’m busy fucking my way through pre-Bachelorette contestants.”

“Sarah.”

“I’m pregnant.”

“You’re what?!”

“And your gay.”

“Sarah!”

She glares at him. Daring him to challenge her.

“Tit for tat?”

She nods,

“Tit for tat.”

“Deadass?”

“Deadass. For Eddie, right?”

“Always for Eddie. Are you.. anything else? In a relationship perhaps?”

“Yeah. I’m.. it’s a something. Did you tell him?”

“He.. found out.” He grinds his teeth. Forgets to ask his question.

“Do you remember when you kissed him?”

“I what?!”

“You were five. I married you in the backyard. I omitted the kiss, but it was you who insisted.”

“I did not.”

“Did to.”

“Does he know?” Richie asks.

“Why is Eddie out there instead of in here?” She snaps back.

Richie can’t believe it. His own sister knew. And she’d, she probably hadn’t forgotten. There had been no reason for her to lose her memories. So this whole time she’d known about Richie’s feelings. She’d said nothing. She.. she treated him the same. She’d loved him anyway. And suddenly he’s crying.

She holds him, like she always does, and he very pointedly does not think about Eddie outside in the waiting room.

“I love you Richie.”

“I tolerate you.”

“That’s my cue to leave.”

It takes her awhile to get her things and get herself together, and suddenly Richie is at the door, hugging her again.

“You’ve gotta tell him.”

“You need to talk to Eddie.”

Richie grins,

“Tit for tat?”

She hesitates before nodding and opening the door,

“Tit for tat.”

He’s just shutting the door when she trills,

“Oh my god. Eddie, sweetie. I haven’t seen you in years! Do you want to go grab lunch or something? Richie’s just exhausted. So it will probably be a few hours before he’s recovered.”

Richie shuts the door and crawls into bed, mind reeling.

5. “Richie honey!” It’s Janice, his favorite nurse and her favorite patient.  

“Yes Janet?”

“You know I’m going on vacation tomorrow.”

“I know, you witch. What about it?”

“Well you haven’t talked to your gentleman friend yet and you’ll probably be discharged by the time I’m back so,”

“Janice, I’m really not.”

“Honey, he’s right here. “

Eddie pokes his head in and his hair is still a mess and he’s got a little bit more than a five o’clock shadow, which means he hasn’t left.

“Janet.” He says desperately. “I don’t feel well, I can’t.”

“Richie please,” Eddie says desperately.

“I said I don’t feel well. Please don’t,” he says weakly.

“Richie honey, sooner or later-“

“Oh shut up and get out, get the fuck out Janice!” He snaps.

He sees the hurt flash across her face and then the door shuts forcefully.

+1:

Richie’s being discharged. Sarah had to go back to New York, so Mike was bringing him to the airport. He’d left a card for Janice at the front desk with a promise to tickets to one of his shows, had his slides on, and was ready to go.

He’s not expecting Eddie to be in the waiting room. Still. He’s got his hair slicked back and he’s bare faced again. He must have a flight of his own to catch.

“Richie,” he says quietly.

Richie looks down, he doesn’t want to do this right now. He’s tired.

“Just, tell me if I’m wasting my time. It’s been ten days. I haven’t left your side. I. We need to talk about this. Can we please talk about this?”

“What’s there to talk about? You’re married. To a woman.”

“We’re separated. We’ve been separated. I didn’t like, leave her for you. You’re not that special,” he jokes.

“But you said-“

“Yeah, like I’m gonna show up and say I’m a failed divorcee.”

“Eddie I don’t have time-“

“Ask me.”

“Ask you what?”

“If I love you too.” He says quietly.

“I’m not gonna,” Richie’s stuck between wanting to collapse onto the ground and run away.

He tried to tell himself that it doesn’t matter if Eddie loves him, it doesn’t. They haven’t known each other for nearly thirty years. They each have their own respective lives. It doesn’t. This isn’t a fairytale. Richie has a life. Shows and obligations and he’s gonna be an uncle, holy shit. He has a girlfriend for Christ’s sake. So no, it doesn’t matter if Eddie loves him too. It’s too late for that. Life doesn’t work like that.

“Richie I,”

“Don’t!” He all but shouts, “I swear to fucking, don’t! It’s not fair.”

“Not fair? Richie what-“

“We can’t just be together. There’s, I have a life. You have a life. You have a job. You’re going through a divorce! No matter how we feel, it’s not, okay. It’s not, things aren’t just going to fit magically into place.”

“They can if we try.”

That sounds too much like the truth. Richie’s gut hurts. He doesn’t want to try. He doesn’t even want to start, because he knows he will not stop. No matter how things go. And if they ride hard, they’re going to crash and burn, fast. He’s lived his entire life in denial. He’d rather never know then to have things go south. And quickly.

He has to go, he has to get out of this situation.

“Can we try?” Eddie begs, “Give me a chance!”

“That’s the thing Eds. It wouldn’t be a  chance. It would be unlimited chances. And if things don’t work out, I can’t handle it.”

“So you’re counting us out before we’ve even tried?”

“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

He tries to duck around Eddie, he’s got to get out of here.

“Richie, I love you. And I know it’s been like two weeks since our feelings came back but god they came back and I love you.  I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone before. I hadn’t realized that until now. What love actually felt like. Truly felt like. Please give me a chance. Let’s work this out, let’s.”

Richie looks up when he hears Eddie’s voice crack. There’s tears in his beautiful brown eyes and he has his own stitches in his face and he’s thought of about ten jokes about their matching scars if they do get together.  Get together.

“I don’t,”

“Dammit!” And Eddie is kissing him.

He’s soft but firm and his huge palm and resting on the back of Richie’s neck and his mouth is hot, and slick.  He finds himself standing completely still, just letting himself be kissed.

Richie breaks away panting,

“I can’t take anymore. I have to go.”

“Richie please.”

“Stop for gods sake. Mike is waiting for me.”

“I can drive you!” He says desperately.

Richie shakes his head,

“I’m okay.”

Eddie frowns in disappointment. Richie feels bad leaving, he does. But he’s scared, and it’s his first kiss with a guy and the guy is Eddie. But he can’t take it anymore. He’s anxious to get to the pharmacy to pick up his prescription because his ribs are killing him, and he’s nervous to return to an empty apartment.

Eddie’s still staring at him and Richie adjusts his backpack straps before leaning in to kiss Eddie’s cheek,

“I’ll text you when I’m on the plane.”

He starts walking away,

“Richie!” Eddie calls.

Richie turns around,

“I-“

Richie shakes his head. Smiles a bit.

“I know.”

[toziers]

#12

it’s laid down in the grass / with our old and worn-out shoes / looking at the stars / on a blanket made for two - #12: in the stars - my brothers and i


technically, you could see the stars from anywhere in derry. a small town not yet overtaken by the towering sky-rises or cloudy pollutions of the neighboring industrial plants, just about any spot was good enough to crane your neck back and see constellations from horizon to horizon in any direction. not that richie was gonna stand in front of the aladdin looking like a flipping idiot trying to see cassiopeia or hercules; he might as well slap a sign on his chest that said “henry bowers please kick the shit out of me.”

you could see the stars from anywhere in derry, but the quarry, still and calm and free of sociopaths horny for violence, was richie’s favorite.

“just be home by midnight, boys,” maggie says, smacking richie’s hand away when he scoops a finger-full of brownie batter from the side of the mixing bowl. “richie! wash your hands first!”


“yeah, yeah, back by midnight, whatever, thanks mom!” he’s so tall he has to bend down to kiss her cheek now – like he has since he was 15, shooting up past her already impressive five-foot-eight and then surpassing even his father less than a year and a half later. the tallest of the losers by an inch (with stan tailing just behind) and the gangliest by a mile (though bill’s clumsy doe movements could give richie’s elbows a run for their money), richie was always bending, slouching, cramming himself into rooms and chairs and twin-sized beds. maybe that’s why he liked the quarry so much: at least out there he didn’t have to worry about smacking and whacking and thwacking into low door-frames or shin-height coffee tables. 


(eddie had laughed so hard the day richie ran forehead-first into a support beam of the bunker that he’d fallen out of the hammock. they’d spent the rest of the evening on richie’s couch watching cartoons: richie, holding an ice pack to his head, and eddie, holding one to his wrist. karma had never felt so fucking satisfying.)

“and take the quilt from the hall closet this time instead of one of my nice ones from the living room,” she adds sternly, and richie looks away, sheepish, as he wipes the saliva from his finger across his jeans. clearly he hadn’t done as good of a job getting the dirt stains out of the expensive fleece as he’d thought.

“i got it, mrs. t,” eddie says, holding up a roll of patchwork fabric half the size of his body. richie was the tallest, and eddie was the smallest, and it’d always been that way. (except for the summer that eddie hit his growth spurt before bill and spent two months holding that half-inch of height like a goddamn trophy until bill eventually overtook him again.) richie kinda liked it though; even now, eighteen years old and set on the path to university in the fall, they both still fit in the old worn-down hammock. they didn’t fit well, but they fit, and even if they didn’t, they would’ve found a way to squeeze in. eddie and richie were always finding ways to be close, making silent excuses for the way their thighs pressed together as they played video games or pretending their hands didn’t linger with every playful smack or tickle fight. they didn’t talk about it: the other losers didn’t either.

“rich, c’mon, we’re wasting daylight.”

“that’s the point, eds, it’s star-gazing.” but rich crosses the kitchen in two easy steps, and they take the bickering that follows out the front door as maggie calls out have fun! with a knowing smile on her face.

mothers always know.

* * *

“and that one’s gumbus minoris, named after the bravest man that ever lived; slayer of blockheads and — eddie, stop laughing, this is important — slayer of blockheads and slayer of pussy—”

“oh, beep beep richie,” eddie says, but his cheeks are red from giggling and his brown eyes sparkle with mirth under the light of the moon. “gumby doesn’t have his own fucking constellation.”

“he does too! trust me,” richie sniffs, rolling over to prop himself up on his elbow and using his free hand to push his glasses up his nose. “i’m an expert.”

“on what, bullshitting?”

richie scoffs. “why, i never!” he throws his palm over his chest, twisting his voice into something whiny and high pitched and about as close to a southern belle as eddie was to out-growing richie’s horrible Voices.

(which was to say not close, not even in the slightest.)

“ah swear it eddie, on all the fiyaflies in the field and all the twists in your britches.” richie gets another burst of sweet giggles for that and a light smack to his stomach. eddie’s hand lingers for a moment, fingers skimming over the faded print of richie’s prized liger t-shirt before dropping away. eddie’s gaze is still pointed at the sky, so richie lets himself indulge in the soft curves of the boy’s profile, in the way his long eyelashes brush against the hairs of delicate eyebrows.

when they were younger, richie used to pull eddie close and give him a gentle noogie or pinch his cheeks and call him cutecutecute. shit, richie still did that, did it a lot more regularly than ‘best friends’ probably should, but lately, richie was having to bite his tongue to keep from calling eddie something else —  pretty, maybe. or beautiful. a downright knock-out, from head to toe. richie’s eyes flick to the stars. heavenly would work, too.

“i’m telling you, it’s up there! see, right…” richie leans over onto eddie’s side of the blankets — to get the sight lines right, of course — and points, tracing the outline of the green character over a configuration of stars. “right there.”

eddie tilts his head away from the sky, beaming, and when richie turns his head too their faces are close enough that richie almost goes cross-eyed. “uh-huh. is pokey up there, too, mr. expert?”

the weight of eddie’s stare sits on richie’s heart like a hot hand on his bare chest, like always, but richie’s greens are aimed down. soft brown freckles are spattered across eddie’s nose and spread ear to ear: fuzzy stars against warm skin. richie’s spent hours finding his own constellations there, and across eddie’s arms, and his back, too, when they were all laid out on the rocks drying off after a swim.

“nah,” richie says, and brings his hand down to ghost his index finger over the slant of eddie’s cheekbone. he traces… something, some shape, drawing invisible lines from one freckle to the next; suddenly he can’t remember who pokey was, let alone what he looked like. “he’s right here.”

the puffs of eddie’s breath come out uneven — richie can feel it against where his palm hovers over eddie’s mouth — and when richie finally scrounges up the courage to meet the other’s gaze, eddie’s eyes have become little more than chocolate rings around blown-out pupils.

the desire to close the gap and kiss his best friend is stupidly, ferociously, unbearably overwhelming. there is a possibility (or maybe just the heart’s whisper of hope in richie’s chest) that, with the way eddie’s eyes flit to catch the movement of richie’s tongue wetting his lower lip, eddie might want to kiss him right back.

but beneath every loud, obnoxious, look-at-me-or-i-swear-i-might-die funny kid’s facade, there is a coward. taking chances on a dirty joke, on crossing lines with Voices and bits, that was easy. taking chances on this? eddie and richie stood on a tightrope, a precipice of love and love. 

don’t ruin this, the coward screams. you can’t lose him now.

so richie grins, pokes eddie’s nose, and flops back onto the blanket with his hands behind his head. “don’t bother asking about the blockheads, though, fuck if i know where they—”

if the force of eddie’s body dropping onto his wasn’t enough to knock the wind out of richie, the feeling of lips — his best friend’s lips, eddie’s lips, eddie’s pink, pouty, perfect lips — against his own did the trick. frozen, richie stares, wide-eyed behind the frames of his glasses that’d gone lop-sided when eddie flew across the blanket at him.

kiss him back, fuckass!

he does. richie’s head thumps softly to the ground as his hands fly to curl around eddie’s jaw, tender and desperate all at once. there’s no finesse, no grace to any of it; it’s all the fierce, wild energy that always ricocheted between them focused into a single, bruising kiss. richie’s heart is hammering against his ribs so hard he’s sure it’s shaking his entire being.

eventually, eddie pulls back, though his body stays half-flung over richie’s like a tiny blanket of energy. he’s breathing hard, and even in the faint glow of moonbeams, richie knows eddie’s face is flushed. actually, his probably is too; his cheeks feel hot (and his hands, and his stomach, and everywhere else eddie’s pressed up against).

“you’re a blockhead, richie,” eddie says, but his face lights up with the biggest smile richie’s ever seen.

i love you, richie’s heart sings.

“no, you’re a blockhead,” richie’s mouth says. his brain’s a little scrambled still, swimming with thoughts of eddie eddie eddie, and his smack talk suffers as a consequence. eddie still laughs; eddie always laughed. eddie would never tell, but he thought richie was the funniest person in the world, easy. it didn’t matter the joke, and it never would. if richie was speaking, eddie was right there with him, hanging on every word that came out of his trash mouth like richie was spinning gold with his tongue.

“guess that makes us a pair.” richie smiles then too, a rush of joy, unbridled and pure, washing over him so strongly he thought he might drown in it. the moment felt infinite and ephemeral, impossible and  palpable, all at once.

“guess so.”

they don’t get home before midnight. in three weeks, richie (and the rest of the losers, too) would leave for school, while eddie would stay in derry to take classes locally. the coward inside richie screamed worries of drifting apart, permanently or not, but for tonight, it was silenced by the bravest man that ever lived.

eddie, not fucking gumby.

you could see the stars from anywhere in derry, but laying at the top of the quarry side-by-side with eddie, hands clasped between them and ankles hooked so that their dirty converse knocked together — yeah, that took the fucking crown.

[drwnng-ophelia]

Caught Between the Two of You | Richie Tozier x Female Reader / Pennywise x Female Reader

A/N: I’m sorry this took me so long to finish! Quick disclaimer, if you haven’t seen IT Chapter Two yet (go see it, srsly) then this contains spoilers. Read at your own risk! Also: Richie smut is back! 

Pairing: Richie Tozier/Female Reader, Pennywise/Female Reader

Summary: You own the Derry Town House and are caught off guard by a group of friends who check-in. You get closer than anticipated with one of them.

Warnings: explicit language, smut, oral sex

Word Count: 3,625

Read Chapter 1 here and Chapter 2 here. I also post on AO3.

   Chapter 3

Nervousness made your stomach churn. Meeting Richie’s friends meant meeting the people who Pennywise wanted to torment. It meant speaking to them about the creature. It meant that you’d have to admit that you were very aware of everything that was happening in Derry.

Reluctantly, you followed Richie into the dining room. The Town House felt oddly unfamiliar and strange today, nothing like the warm place you had known your entire life. It was as if Richie could feel your unease, his hand giving yours a reassuring squeeze.

Earlier, he had offered that you could still leave, that he’d be willing to go with you, but you had shaken your head decidedly. You couldn’t run, and they shouldn’t.

They shouldn’t be here in the first place. They should have rejected the invitation, the call, to come back home. Five pairs of weary eyes rested on you as you slid into a chair, next to Richie. Unsurprisingly, no one seemed to have gotten any sleep.

Suddenly, the spacious old dining room seemed almost nightmarish and not even the delicious scent of coffee and fresh pastries could ease the chill that had settled into your bones. There were too many ghosts in this room.

“Someone is missing,” you noted almost absentmindedly, voicing what your instincts had just whispered to you. “One of us cou-couldn’t make it,” someone said. Bill Denbrough. You recognized him from one of his book covers. There was no need for him to tell you that the missing friend had died—had surrendered to his fear.

“Why did you have to pull her into this, Richie?” Mike Hanlon asked sternly. You knew him from the library—knew that he was researching Pennywise and had asked whoever wanted to talk to him about the entity that haunted this place. Sometimes you wondered if your old friend had spoken to him in a human form, just to ensure that he would get false information. Whatever plan he had crafted over the years, it would be faulty. And dangerous.

Richie opened his mouth, but you beat him to it, saying, “Because I asked him to.” The friends exchanged disbelieving glances. “We’re not going out on a picnic today,” Mike clarified darkly. You scoffed. With this attitude, you might as well put the cards on the table right now.

No. Not yet. Wait.

“I’m not as scared as you are, not even remotely,” you said icily, narrowing your eyes. Next to you, Richie let out a small cough, telling you that he was stifling a laugh. “Tell me what I need to know in order to help you.” “I like her,” Beverly said with a smile that melted the room’s tension away. “This is not going to be pretty, I hope you had all your shots.” Anxiety flickered in the man’s brown eyes as you met them. “I don’t think that’s what we should be most worried about, Eddie,” a handsome man said, his gaze resting on Beverly longingly. “Shut up, Ben, you can get all sorts of infections and—” Eddie embarked on a lengthy monologue of all the sicknesses the group could possibly get. No one really listened to him, but slowly frowns and stern faces relaxed, easing into grins and chuckles. This was a tight-knit group. You had to keep them safe. They had lost enough.

It was Richie who, eventually, pulled in a breath and started to lay out their story, their encounter with Pennywise twenty-seven years ago. With memory slowly finding its way back, the friends pieced together the horrifying happenings. It started with Georgie Denbrough getting pulled into the storm drain and ended with the friends making a vow to return to Derry if It should ever return. You felt nauseous thinking about what Pennywise had done to these people—and what he had done to you. This morning. Guilt and shame threatened to suffocate you when Richie rested his hand on your thigh, a gesture of comfort and protection. I’m here for you, I’ll keep you safe. A part of you wanted to get up, to run out, to get away from all of this. But instead, it felt as if you were glued to the chair. Even if Pennywise had changed, had changed for you no less, you needed to restore the equilibrium somehow. The pain needed to be compensated, and you were more than willing to pay whatever settlement would reveal itself.   “Let’s get going. There’s no time to waste,” Mike urged and gestured towards the door, “There’s no going back now, [Y/N].” “I gathered as much,” you snapped, growing tired of his tone. After all, it was you who would change his ineffective plan into something that would—could—work. You. Sooner or later, you’d have to push open the door inside you that you had once locked so meticulously. As you all started to head towards the Barrens, Richie started bickering with Eddie. While Bill, Mike, and Ben were wallowing in memories, Beverly hooked her arm through yours. She slowed her steps slightly, the small distance to the others allowing her to speak to you without them overhearing. “Richie stayed with you last night, huh?” she asked, a knowing grin on her lips. A blush crept into your cheeks at her suggestiveness. “Yeah…it just happened,” you shrugged, unsure where this conversation was going. After all, you were two consenting adults. Having mind-blowing sex and helping him solve a mystery didn’t mean you were dating. There really was no reason to have  the ‘don’t break his heart’-conversation yet, or was there? “Why are you doing this for us—for him?” she asked, honestly curious. You swallowed hard and answered, “Because it’s the right thing to do. You lost a player and I believe you need someone to stand-in for him. Not that I’m trying to fill his shoes, no one could. But you will need me.” “This might sound weird,” she paused, brilliant blue eyes finding yours, “but when I got caught in the Deadlights, I saw something. I saw our future.” The hairs on the back of your neck rose, telling you that whatever she was to say was important. “I didn’t…you weren’t a part of that vision. I had seen Stanley take his life in the bathtub, everything so far has happened exactly how I saw it. But you, you’re like a blindspot,” she explained. “I believe that nothing you saw is set in stone. There’s always a blindspot, an unpredictability. How can you be sure that what you saw isn’t just what Pennywise wanted you to see?” Beverly looked to her friends, contemplating your words. “Just know that I will be a vital player in this game.” “You keep referring to this as a game. Why?” “Because that’s what this is. To Pennywise this is a game, and we need to get a step ahead of him. Desperately.” You sighed through your nose, a shadow dancing between the trees, catching your attention. Of course, he would be here. He would keep an eye on you. On all of you. In front of you, the men came to a halt and Ben started to test the ground for the entrance to their clubhouse. Richie and Eddie’s playful quarrel had stopped too and he now looked at you, a warm smile on his face when he realized you were bonding with one of his friends. “You say that name with an odd sense of intimacy,” Beverly noted and looked at you intently, searching for answers to questions she hadn’t yet asked. You closed your eyes, ignoring the warning in your head and said, “It’s because I’ve seen Pennywise, too. I’ve seen him for most of my life.” Everyone’s attention shifted to you. And just then Ben crashed through the hatch. Except for Ben’s moans, the forest had fallen silent. The wind stilled and even the birds who had been chirping happily a moment ago had quieted down. “I’m okay, I’m good,” Ben called and cut through the eerie silence. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Richie asked, the smile on his lips faltering. You could barely bear the disappointment that laced his words. “Because I was afraid.” A half-truth that would have to suffice. “I was afraid of…him.” “But if you’ve seen him for mo-most of your life,” Bill started. “Then it hasn’t slept for twenty-seven years,” Beverly concluded, “It’s been awake.” The friends looked to Mike who had only just called them back now, after Pennywise had eaten parts of the fatally injured man. You were grateful that they didn’t dig deeper, didn’t ask how you had learned about Its existence. “Guys, c’mon now. That thing had written ‘come home’ all over the bridge. I didn’t make this up,” Mike defended himself, holding up his palms in a surrendering gesture. “Well, that thing has apparently been on its best behavior if you hadn’t noticed its return until now,” Eddie spat, gesturing wildly.   “Let’s not get into this now. Let’s do what we came here for,” you reasoned, seeing panic flashing in Mike’s eyes. It was bad enough that they didn’t want to be here to begin with, but they shouldn’t start blaming one another. “She’s right. Let’s not get into another fight,” Mike agreed. “Another fight?” Eddie checked. “Yes, remember when I threw a p-punch at Richie?” Bill reminded him and Richie rubbed his jaw as if not only the memory but also the pain had returned. “I remember that, too.” Ben’s voice sounded slightly muffled as if he had already started exploring their underground clubhouse. “We should go down there,” Beverly suggested and was the first to climb down the stairs. While the others disappeared, one after the other, you caught up to Richie. Although you wanted to, you refrained from taking his hand. “I’m sorry, I should have told you,” you muttered softly. His gaze didn’t meet yours. “Yes, you should have. Last night, when I knocked on your door and you invited me in. Before we…” He ran a hand through his hair. “You made my fear seem irrational and unfounded.” “I didn’t know then that you were afraid of Pennywise. I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but here in Derry, people are afraid of many different things and not all of these fears stem from the clown. He only feeds off of them. Besides, how do you think it would look if I confess to knowing about an unexplainable, ancient evil creature? You guys, you and your friends, are the first people I’ve met that have survived seeing him, interacting with him. If I were to admit to seeing him, they’d lock me up with Henry Bowers.” “You know about Henry Bowers?” Eddie called from inside the clubhouse, giving away that he had been eavesdropping. Richie’s expression softened a bit and he brushed his knuckles over your burning cheek. “No more secrets, okay? We need to stick together. You’re one of us now. A loser.” He smiled bitterly. “No more secrets,” you repeated, ignoring the warning bells that went off inside your head. Richie helped you get into the underground hideout. The walls would need to be reinforced should this place hold up for much longer. Spiders and other crawlers scuttled into the dirt or nooks, disturbed by the strip of daylight and the unwanted guests. A musty scent lingered in the air which quickly mixed with the forest’s rich scent that streamed in from above. “Nice job, Ben,” you complimented as you imagined what this place had looked like when they had all been young teenagers. “Thank you. It’s in better shape than I had thought,” he said and picked up a cassette tape. “Ah, your real friends.” Beverly chuckled and nudged him playfully. Next to you, Richie let go of a sigh, planting his hands in his pockets while the others were exploring. “Do you miss him?” Your voice was barely more than a whisper, almost drowned out by the other’s chatter. You rested your hand on his back and wished that you could take some of his pain away. “It’s not fair that he had to die,” Richie finally said, “We should have—I should have—” His voice trembled and he fell silent. “What happened to Stan wasn’t your fault,” you reminded him gently. Around you, the others had stopped their exploring, ready to back you up. But Richie wiped the single tear that had run down his cheek away decidedly. “Let’s find Stan’s token and get out of here, I don’t want to get any spiders stuck in my hair.” “I think I found it,” Bill noted and held up an old can. He opened it and fished out a floral-patterned shower cap. “Stanley wouldn’t wa-want you to get spiders in your hair either.” Richie let out a breathy laugh. “No, he was the best.” You didn’t care about the others being there when you kissed away a new tear. You would really have to stop Pennywise. For this—for them. For Richie. As the decision settled inside you, you built up strong, adamant walls around it, hiding it so deep inside of you that Pennywise would never find it. Never sense it. “Where do we go from here?” you asked and took Richie’s hand in yours. You would need him now because as you stood there, in this perfect little hiding spot, you unlocked that place inside of you. A familiar tingling sensation washed over every fiber, every nerve of your body and you shuddered. “Are you okay?” Richie asked immediately. “Yes, I’m just getting paranoid now that we’ve talked so much about spiders,” you excused. Power. Pure, untamed power waited patiently in an endless-seeming well. “You will all need to find your tokens, by yourself,” Mike explained. “You want us to split up? That’s the dumbest fucking idea,” Eddie interjected and shook his head decidedly. “It’s important that you do it by yourself. For the ritual,” Mike pressed. “Well, I’m not leaving Richie,” you said firmly. Mike drew in a breath but you shot him a look. “I’m not discussing this with you. I’m going with him and that’s that.” Underneath your feet, the ground appeared to quiver at your words, telling you that you would have to dive into your power slowly. Carefully. The friends exchanged nervous glances. “We should get out of here,” Ben suggested. Great. This would probably end in them being scared of you, too. Once everyone had climbed back into the sunlight, plans were made to meet up at the Town House in a few hours. To your relief, you couldn’t sense Pennywise. Maybe he had grown tired of the reminiscing. Or your affection towards Richie. As you started your walk back into town, you were grateful for Richie’s hand in yours. After all, you hadn’t just gone with him because he had been vulnerable and because you wanted to support him. No, you had gone with him to make sure that Pennywise wouldn’t tear him to ribbons when you weren’t looking. After all, Pennywise might still be playing with the others. But after this morning, he would no longer be playing with Richie. He would hunt him.

   “So this is where you would come as a little boy, huh?” you asked, a smile on your face after Richie had ushered you into the closed down arcade. You had passed by this place so many times, wondering why no-one had ever attempted to refurbish it. Even now, hidden under layers of dust, old posters peeling away, and with graffiti splattered over the walls, you could imagine how welcoming this place had once been. Richie’s hand rested on the small of your back. “Let’s just get that token and get out of here.” With a frown, you turned towards him. “Bad memories?” He nodded. “I remember…feeling very lonely here.” These were the things, memories, feelings that Pennywise could draw power from. You needed to cover his loneliness with something else. Anything else. “Well, Richard Tozier,” you started quietly, putting change into the machine, a token clattering down, its metallic sound echoing off the walls, “you’re not alone here now.” “Do you feel lonely? With me here?” you asked, sliding the token into his pocket, your face only inches from his. He closed his eyes and wetted his lips when your hand lingered in his pocket. “Anyone could come in here,” he said huskily. “And anyone could hear. So we better keep our voices down,” you suggested, looking up at him through your eyelashes. “You’re wicked.” He chuckled and let you move him against the nearest wall. “Oh, you have no idea.” You breathed your words against his lips and pulled him into a hungry kiss. Your hands quickly went to work, reaching for his growing bulge before fumbling with his belt and pants. “So we’re gonna do this right here?” he got out as you nibbled at his earlobe, fingers busy massaging his erection. “Why, do you want me to stop?” you teased and basked in the way he looked at you as you slowly sunk to your knees. Richie shook his head decidedly and groaned when you licked over his tip, tasting him. “Quiet now. You can be noisy later,” you reminded him. “Oh shit, what’s coming later?” he asked, resting his head against the wall. You ran a hand up his thigh brazenly, withholding your touch just for a little while. “Hm, I don’t know. When we’re back in my bedroom I might tie you to the bed. Then, I might straddle you, deciding how fast or painstakingly slow we’ll go,” you said nonchalantly, “Or you could punish me for lying to you. You could give me a whipping with this belt of yours. You could decide whether or not I’ve deserved to find release.” Richie blinked at your boldness. He hadn’t been rough with you last night, but something told you that was about to change. “I…yes, we can do that.” He nodded eagerly. “Now, shut up and let me finish what I’ve started.” Fire burned behind his eyes when you finally put him in your mouth, licking his underside eagerly. Richie squirmed under your touch.   As you started to suck, his fingers wove into your hair, his hands telling you that you could increase your speed. But you didn’t, planning on tantalizing him for just a little longer. There was no need to hurry this along—even if your own arousal throbbed between your legs. With tight lips, you moved up and down his shaft, your hand ensuring that all of him was getting pleasured. Richie let out a small moan when you took him deeper into your mouth with each stroke, your tongue massaging him. From there, you let him dictate the speed and depth, taking whatever he gave you. Letting go of your power over him, submitting to him and his rhythm, added to your own lust. You could barely wait to get back to the house, to feel him between your thighs. His breathing was getting faster and more shallow, telling you that he would finish soon. Muscles tensed under your touch, his pace getting uncontrolled. When he finally stilled, you swallowed his load, sucking up every last drop greedily.

“Fuck, [Y/N],” he breathed and relaxed against the wall, fingers untangling, leaving your hair in disarray. You licked your lips as you rose, brushing the dust off your knees. “How’s that for a new memory?” you asked, a mischievous grin on your face as you helped him straighten his clothes. “Let’s make more,” he suggested and claimed your lips. “How fast can we be back at your house? I want to return the favor.” In the heat of the moment, you had barely noticed the haunting shadow in the corner by the door. Richie wouldn’t see him, the man that manifested from thin air, anger flickering in those blue eyes. “And here I thought I had fulfilled your needs this morning.” He tskd as if disappointed with you. You only shrugged slightly, fingers intertwining with Richie’s as he led you towards the exit. Without awarding Pennywise with another glance, you stepped out onto Main Street, feeling for those protective walls inside you. They were still intact. Strong. Impenetrable. He hadn’t noticed. Couldn’t have. You tried to banish Pennywise from your mind as you found your way back to the house. And yet, the desire that you had felt so intensely only moments before seemed almost washed away. Maybe you had promised Richie something you weren’t ready to follow up on. “I’ll quickly change,” you explained and rushed into your bedroom, closing the door behind yourself. Richie had already opened his mouth, probably offering that he could undress you. Right now, however, you just needed a moment to collect yourself. The boldness that had driven you earlier…it had come from your power. It wasn’t like you regretted your actions, but you couldn’t get reckless later. There was no room for mistakes. You took a deep steadying breath and finger-combed through your messy hair. Just when you wanted to undress, a flicker in your mirror caught your eyes. Not again. “Pennywise, just go away. Go play somewhere else,” you huffed, pulling off your sweater. But when you looked into the mirror, it wasn’t Pennywise who stared back at you. Confused, you let a tendril of power brush against the glassy surface. This truly wasn’t him. He wasn’t anywhere close to your house. So you only stared back, stared into the eyes that were so similar to your own. Stared into the face of your mother.

Read Chapter 4 here.

Taglist:

@lilwickedred @shockwavee @itssmaugtheterrible @ggclarissa @okokbucky @chillcan @jojo-buttercup @victor-criss-bish @discodeakky @kaetastic @anthonystarksglasses

[pinkmedusa6]

Burning Bridges

Pairing: Richie Tozier & Eddie Kaspbrak 

Read on AO3

An excerpt from this work: 

“Go back to sleep Rich. I’ll be back, I promise.” Eddie stumbles backwards and slips out the window. Soon the room settles into a lull like Eddie was never there to begin with.

The clock reads 3:35 am. Richie stays in his bed debating if he should get up and chase after Eddie but his consciousness makes the decision for him as he begins to fade into his dreams once again. Sleep overtakes him, thoughts of Eddie still swaying at the edge of his mind. Richie decides to talk to him in the morning. He will realize later that this was the worst decision of his life.Eddie 

Kaspbrak was never seen in Derry again.

Summary:  Richie is living the lonely life of a C-list comedian in LA until he suddenly is contacted by Mike Hanlon. 15 years after his disappearance Mike believes to have received a phone call from Eddie. The remaining Loser's return to Derry in search of answers and their missing friend. 

It had been a normal day for Richie Tozier. But that’s how all tragedy’s started, with normal days.

All seven members of the Losers Club sat along the bank of the quarry. The haze of a summer heat settling along the exposed edges of their skin. Beverly was skipping rocks along the water, trying to beat her record of 6 skips. Ben watched her like she was competing in an Olympic sport, the flick of her wrist catching his gaze. Bill, Mike, and Stan sat not far off, discussing amongst themselves.

Richie had taken to climbing up a nearby tree and hanging off one of the branches by the crook of his knees. While Eddie stood underneath him rattling off the possible injuries he could get by falling.

Richie was desperately trying to keep his glasses from sliding off his face as Eddie glared at him. “I’m not going to help you if you fall and bust your head open.”

“Aw would you still love me if I got brain damage Eds?” Richie grinned swinging carelessly back and forth.

“Don’t call me Eds. And you already have brain damage asshole.” Eddie huffed, crossing his arms across his chest.

“And you still love me! How sweet,” He threw Eddie a wink. Richie thought he saw a hint of red creep around Eddie’s cheeks but wasn’t sure if that was just his own blood rushing to his head.  

“That’s why we’re your friend, can’t let the poor kid with brain damage play by himself.” Stan called over, not even bothering to turn towards Richie.

“You wound me Staniel.” There was a grunt as Richie heaved himself up and began his decent down the tree. About a foot away from the ground he lost his grip and fell landing on his back with a small thud. He barked out laughter as Eddie ran to his side to make sure his skull hadn’t broken like an egg shell.

“B-by the way, what electives did everyone ch-chose for the semester?” Bill said fully ignoring the commotion taking place beside him.

A chorus of answers rang around the group, from Bev shouting home economics to Ben quietly mentioning a poetry class. Stan said photography and Richie remarked that his teacher would get tired of every picture being a bird. Eddie sat quietly in his spot beside Richie.  

“What about you Eddie?” Mike smiled over at Eddie. He had also stayed silent during the discussion, there wasn’t much to say about electives when you were home schooled.

Eddie fidgeted from where he was sitting on the ground. “Ok I’ll tell you guys but you have to promise not to mention it around my mom she’ll flip.” There was a collective nod, “I uh decided to go for track and field.”      

“That’s fantastic Eddie!” Bev said.

“You’ll do g-g-gr-ugh.” Bill closed his eyes in frustration before starting again. “You’ll do awesome, you have always been the fastest of us anyway.” Bill smiled along with the rest of the group. He was right, Eddie had always been the fastest of the Losers club even when he thought his asthma was real.

“Fast on the track and in the sack that’s what they say right?” Richie laughed as he was shoved by Eddie but he didn’t miss the distinct dimpled smile.

After finding out his mother had been lying to him for years about his asthma, as well as several other illnesses, Eddie had abandoned most of his placebos. Only when his mother was watching did he seem to keep up his act, not yet wanting to confront her. Richie felt a certain kind of pride bloom in his chest. The kind that had always been there but seemed to grow with each act Eddie did. Sonia was controlling and every step that Eddie took seemed to defy the tight grip she had on him. They were coming closer to the end of their high school days and Richie was excited for the future. A future he hoped contained a great deal of Eddie.

Richie knew the way he felt about Eddie differed greatly from his feelings towards the other loser’s. He didn’t stay up late at night thinking about the curve of Beverly’s legs nor did he leave lingering touches along Stan’s arms, those were exclusive to Eddie. Calling it love would make it too real. He called it a crush because crushes were soft fleeting things. Crushes were easy to get over you could skip from one to the next. Love was a hard rock that sat at the bottom of your stomach. Yet Richie could barely contain the tightening of his chest with the way each freckle stretched over Eddie’s cheeks as he smiled. Just a crush Richie reminded himself.  

The losers club continued their carefree summer day at the clubhouse, reveling in one another’s company. Richie felt at peace among his friends, he wondered if this is how all his friendships would be or if this was something special.

By the time four o’clock had rolled around it had become Richie’s favorite kind of day, one where after spending time with all the losers Richie was able to squeeze in an hour or two of alone time with Eddie. After departing from the clubhouse the duo arrived at Richie’s home, eventually landing on his bed to read comics and bicker over trivial topics.

It was Eddie who brought up the subject of college, “Are you still planning on going to UCLA?” The question threw Richie off guard, especially since they just finished a heated argument over who was the better superhero, Captain America or Iron Man. But now Eddie sat on the floor of Richie’s room, his back against the bed and staring at the posters on the wall. His eyes seemed like they were searching for an answer in the Rush poster hung up haphazardly above Richie’s desk, a fruitless effort.

“Well yeah, its step one in my plan on becoming a famous comedian,” Richie turned to Eddie from where he sat on his bed. His eyes were still trained on the poster but Richie caught a glimpse of some unnamed emotion flash across them. “You should come with. UCLA has like a million majors to choose from.” Richie tried to say it as casually as possible and not like he would trade his left arm just to have Eddie in the same state as him. This was not the first time he had brought it up but he still felt the same nervousness tug at his stomach, like it was an encoded proposal.

“Like my mom would ever agree to me moving across the country with Richie Tozier.” Eddie finally returned Richie’s gaze, a somber smile on his face.  

“You’re right. You’re mom would get too jealous.” Eddie groaned “Do you think I could get Mrs.K to come with me to UCLA? I’m not sure she could survive till winter break without me.” Eddie took the comic book in his lap and rolled it up before smacking Richie on the head with it. Richie laughed, a shit-eating grin spread wide across his face. Eddie wavered in his scowling, eventually laughing along with Richie. Soon both boys settled back down into a comfortable silence as they read their comic books.  

As the evening sun slipped into his room it basked Eddie in an otherworldly glow, Richie wanted to burn the image into his brain. He wanted to record Eddie as he was now and replay the scene over in his head until that’s all he could see. He was almost grateful when Eddie said he needed to leave, the tips of his fingers burned with the urge to touch. But Richie smiled and pushed those feelings away, a practice he had grown accustomed to.

Richie walked Eddie to his porch, leaning on the railing as Eddie began to walk down the steps. “When will I see you again Eddie my love?”

“Jesus can you just say my name normally for once?”

“For you? No way in hell Spaghetti man.” Richie was grinning, a common occurrence when he was with Eddie. And Eddie would huff and roll his eyes at Richie’s antics but there was always a smile that followed and Richie would always chase it.

“Well Bill wants us all to meet up at his house tomorrow, his aunt sent him a board game and it can play up to ten people so now we won’t have to fight over who goes first.” Eddie said, hopping off the last step of the porch and turning to face Richie.  

“Then I guess I’ll see you tomorrow when I show you my awe-inspiring board game skills.” Richie wore a cocky smile, it always gave him a special rush knowing exactly what buttons to push to rile Eddie up.

“Oh shut up you couldn’t even beat me at Clue.” Eddie crossed his arms, face already formed into a pout.

“Hey that’s not fair, you know I suck at those murder mystery games!”  

“Well it’s a mystery why I’m still friends with you” Eddie smirked as Richie let out a dramatic gasp, clutching his chest as if Eddie had shot him on the spot.

As he turned to leave down the driveway Richie shouted “see you tomorrow!” Eddie turned around briefly to wave at Richie before scurrying off towards his own house and out of Richie’s sight.                

           After dinner Richie went to bed peacefully, happy with how the day went. That was before he was awoken at 3:21 am.

           Richie was a heavy sleeper, he had always been since a young child. That night he did not hear a window creaking open or shoes shuffling on carpet, he wasn’t awake until a gentle hand began to stroke his hair. Even then Richie was still dancing between sleep and consciousness. He shifted, opening his eyes just barely only to close them again then repeating the process a few more times before comprehending that for a hand to touch his head it needed to be attached to a person that was presumably in his room. His eyes opened fully to see a dark figure standing over him.

           Shock would have set quickly into his veins if not for the hand still combing its way through his hair, daring him to sleep once again. He made a sound that was a mix between a grunt and a slurred “what”. The hand retracted as Richie grabbed his glasses off his night stand. While the figure was less blurry they were still just as dark and only after his eyes adjusted did Richie catch the face of the intruder. The sliver of moonlight peaking from behind the clouds illuminating just enough for recognition to kick in.

“Eddie?” Richie questioned, head feeling like it was stuffed with cotton.

Eddie jerked back slightly, his face still mostly shadows. Richie was having a hard time making the connections his brain needed to make. “Richie” Eddie said finally and if Richie were more lucid maybe he would have caught the distinct wetness Eddie’s voice carried. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Richie rubbed his eyes, “What are you doing here man?” He went to turn on his lamp but Eddie grabbed his wrist.

“No don’t.” Richie was taken aback “Sorry its just…“ There was hesitation in his voice and Richie started to wonder if this was a dream, it felt too weird to be reality. “I needed to see you.” There is another pause as Eddie let go of Richie’s wrist before kneeling down beside the bed. Richie felt the warmth of a hand on his cheek. “Richie I need you to listen carefully. I’m going to be gone for…“ he breathed in sharply “I- I’m not sure how long. But I promise you I will be back ok?”

“Eddie you’re not making any sense” Richie’s voice dripped with confusion as his gut started to tug at itself. This wasn’t the Eddie that Richie knew, this wasn’t the spitfire that always spoke his mind and was trustworthy to a fault. No this Eddie sounded uncertain and scared.

“I know, I’m sorry” Richie thinks he hears a sniffle, “I can’t….just remember I’ll be back Richie, please remember that.” Eddie leans forward and rests his head on Richie’s shoulder as he begins to shake.

Richie wraps his arms around Eddie, softly running his hand down his back. They stay like that for a moment and Richie starts to wonder again if this is an elaborate dream.

Eddie pulls back, “Richie I-“ he says it like something important is dancing on the tip of his tongue ready to dive, but he just shakes his head “I have to go” he slips away before Richie can protest. “Go back to sleep Rich. I’ll be back, I promise.” Eddie stumbles backwards and slips out the window. Soon the room settles into a lull like Eddie was never there to begin with.

The clock reads 3:35 am. Richie stays in his bed debating if he should get up and chase after Eddie but his consciousness makes the decision for him as he begins to fade into his dreams once again. Sleep overtakes him, thoughts of Eddie still swaying at the edge of his mind. Richie decides to talk to him in the morning. He will realize later that this was the worst decision of his life.

Eddie Kaspbrak was never seen in Derry again.

Thank you for reading! If you are interested please check out my AO3 as I probably won’t post anymore chapters on Tumblr. Feel free to leave comments and constructive criticism! 

[cocastyle]

Change - Ch. 1 | F O U R

Pairing - Bill Denbrough x reader

Word Count - 5,294

A/N - yay another chapter! I thought I would sneak in a few cute Bill and Y/N scenes during this chapter so I hope you enjoy it! also, I have uploaded a few parts to my Stranger Things rewrite and plan to upload more soon! it’s called Wonderwall and is a Steve Harrington x reader :)) please leave a comment below letting me know what you think so far! it really helps me with my writing when I know what you all enjoy whether that be the friendships Y/N has or the small moments with Bill!

if you would like to be added to the tag list for this series let me know!

C H A N G E

Change Series Masterlist

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F O U R   - Bust a Move

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Y/N hadn't known what she was expecting to do once she had arrived at the quarry, but stripping down into nothing but her underwear had definitely not been it. Why she hadn't thought about what she was going to change into was beyond her, but the moment she realized she would have to wear nothing but her underwear in front of the boys was the moment she became frozen in place by Stan's bike.

No one seemed to notice the young girl's hesitation as Y/N leaned against Stan's bike handle. She stared down at her blue floral sundress, gulping slightly at the thought of having to take it off as she began to nervously bite her lip.

As if sensing her nervousness, Stan glanced over at his cousin as he pulled his shirt up and over his head. He frowned at her state before taking a step towards her. "Hey, are you okay?" he whispered, his eyes flickering over her face as he seemed to search for some sort of explanation.

"Uh. . .yeah," Y/N said as she nodded while the other boys glanced over at the cousins. "I just-I didn't realize I would have to swim in my underwear."

"There's always the option of swimming naked," Richie smirked as he wiggled his eyebrows, earning a whack in the head from Eddie while both Stan and Bill glared at their friend.

"Ignore him," Eddie muttered as he shook his head at the boy before he looked to the girl softly. "Sorry we didn't make it more clear. You could've brought a swimsuit if we had thought about it."

"You don't have to swim if you don't want to," Ben piped up, the boy giving her the smallest of smiles as if he understood the shyness she was going through.

"I'm sorry," Y/N whispered as she looked down, lightly hugging her arms as she did. "I'm just a little shy is all."

"There's n-n-nothing to be shy about," Bill assured her before he blushed at his own words. "I mean. . ." His eyes flickered between his friends, three of which were looking at him with smirks, one who was narrowing his eyes at the boy questioningly, and the last being Y/N who had started to blush as she gave him a confused look.

Realizing there was no going back from what he just said, Bill quickly spoke up again hoping to get everyone to forget. "There's a path that leads down to the b-b-bottom and you can just wait for us down there if you want," he suggested.

"Oh," Y/N said, her cheeks still bright red as she stared at Bill. She gave him a small smile as she nodded her head. "Thanks."

Bill just nodded in response and was quick to look away as he finished stripping down to his underwear and walked over to the drop off with Richie, Eddie, and Ben. That left Stan who finally tore his narrowed eyes away from Bill before looking to his cousin with a softening expression.

"I'm sorry. I should've said something before we left," Stan sighed as he placed a hand on the girl's arm.

"It's okay, Stanley. It's my fault really for not realizing. I'll just meet you boys at the bottom, okay?" she said. Stan was silent as he gave her a small look. Y/N only gave him a soft smile and put her hand on top of his arm that was holding onto her and whispered, "I'll be fine."

"Promise?" Stan asked as he held out his pinky to the girl.

Y/N chuckled softly making the curly haired boy join in as they both thought back to the many times they would pinky swear on promises. It was the most serious of promises as they liked to say, so it was important to them.

The girl linked her pinky with Stan's before nodding her head, "Promise."

Stan gave her pinky a small squeeze and smiled before pulling away to take off the last of his clothes. He glanced in his cousin's direction once more before jogging over to join his friends by the ledge while they began a loogie contest, leaving Y/N to stand by his bike.

Y/N got lost in her thoughts as she glanced over at the trail Bill had been talking about. Why couldn't she just be confident for once and go into the water? After all, it was only her cousin and his friends. So why was she so nervous?

"Oh my god, that was terrible. I win!" Richie exclaimed causing Y/N to lose her train of thought. The girl glanced over to where the boys were all standing and chuckled slightly at the sight of them all standing there in their underwear arguing about their loogies.

"You won?" Eddie asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Richie said as if there were no question to it.

"You see my loogie?" Eddie questioned, his eyebrows scrunching together in confusion as he wondered how Richie thought he could've won.

"Mine went the farthest. It's about distance!" Richie exclaimed.

"Mass. It's always been mass," Eddie insisted. Richie's eyes widened in disbelief and Y/N couldn't help but chuckle as she watched him throw his arms around for emphasis as he began to bicker with Eddie like usual. Sometimes they acted like an old married couple and Y/N found it to be the funniest and also the cutest thing ever.

"Y/N!" a voice greeted happily causing the girl to turn and see Beverly biking up to her.

"Beverly," Y/N greeted back before her eyes caught sight of the new hair cut the red head was sporting. "Woah. I love your hair!"

Beverly blushed slightly as she hopped off her bike, not really used to compliments. "Thanks," she said before she noticed that Y/N was standing by herself by the bikes. "What's the hold up? You not want to go in?"

"Oh, I do," Y/N assured her before she looked to the ground embarrassed. "I just didn't realize we would be in our underwear and am a little shy is all."

"Shy?" Beverly questioned. "You do realize it's like wearing a bathing suit, right? And it's only in front of those idiots."

She gestured towards the boys and Y/N let her eyes flicker over to them, catching onto the end of Eddie and Richie's fighting as Eddie said, "Who cares how far it goes when it's a measure of how cool it looks like it's green or it's white or juicy and fat?"

Y/N and Beverly both grimaced and let out small laughs as they looked to each other. "Fair point," Y/N nodded. "I just. . ." She trailed off and glanced down at her body. Beverly watched her in silence for a minute before smiling softly as she reached out to place a hand on the girl's shoulder, knowing exactly where the girl was coming from. After all, it wasn't like Y/N was the first girl in the world to be a little self-conscious.

Y/N glanced up at Beverly and saw her kind smile before the red head suggested, "How about we do this together? That way you're not alone."

Y/N was silent for a moment before she hesitantly nodded her head. Not being the only girl would definitely make her feel a little better.

Beverly smiled before gesturing towards the boys. "Come on. Let's show them how it's done," she said making Y/N grin.

"Alright. Who's first?" they heard Bill ask and Beverly quickly squeezed Y/N's hand in reassurance before yelling out, "We'll go!"

The five boys quickly turned around and Beverly smiled before letting go of Y/N's hand so that she could take her dress off. Y/N could feel the stares of the boys and she looked down before taking in a deep shaky breath.

"It's okay. There's nothing to be afraid of," Beverly assured her as she slipped off her shoes.

Y/N nodded before shakily slipping her dress off. She didn't dare look at the boys as she let her dress drop to the floor before her shaky hands moved up to her ponytail that was holding her hair back. She effortlessly pulled the tie out and it was only then that she let her eyes flicker up as she kicked off her shoes, her hair falling down in slight waves due to having been up.

Y/N looked to Beverly, not wanting to see the looks on the boys' faces and the red head was already smiling proudly at her. Beverly held a hand out and Y/N couldn't stop the smile growing on her own face as she took the girl's hand in her own, the two then running forward and towards the edge of the cliff.

"Sissies!" Beverly called out as they reached the edge of the cliff and Y/N barely had time to even look at the boys before the two had jumped off.

"What the fuck?" Y/N heard Richie cry out and she couldn't help but let out a loud laugh as she fell through the air with Beverly by her side.

It was only when they were about to hit the water that they let go of each other, each of the girls taking in a deep breath before plunging into the cold water.

"Ahhh, holy shit, we just got shown off by not only one girl, but two!" Richie cried out as the five boys looked down at the rippling water below them. "Also, Stan the Man, I don't know how it's possible, but your cousin manages to get hotter and hotter by the second."

That comment earned a glare from not only Stan, but the other boys as well, each of them not liking Richie's comment for different reasons.

"We have to do that now?" Stan asked as he looked back down at the water, watching in relief as he saw Y/N poke her head up and above the water, Beverly following not too long after.

"Yes," Eddie muttered nervously while the others looked down in disbelief.

Bill caught sight of Y/N looking up at them and he barely managed to see her smile from that far away before her voice called out to them, "Come on!"

"Oh shit!" Stan sighed, knowing that he would have to go in for sure now that his cousin had jumped.

The boys didn't stand there much longer before Bill had jumped off the cliff, the others all knowing he had only gone first to impress Y/N. It didn't take long for them to join him and before they knew, the whole group was down in the water splashing around with big grins on their faces.

Y/N had never felt as happy as she did in that moment where they were all engaged in a huge water fight. Joyous laughter escaped all of their mouths while they all splashed each other as much as they could while others tried to dunk some of them under water.

Y/N hadn't had many friends back home, not any real ones anyways. The only people she talked to were a few people in her classes who she worked with when she needed a partner for class or somewhere to sit at lunch.

But people to hang out with outside of school? She had never had anyone like that. She had only ever had Stan and the boys when she was visiting during the summer. But that had been five years ago and she hadn't seen Stan as much as she used to, so her friend count was basically nonexistent.

That's why she was so thankful for a moment like this. She needed it, especially with the whole divorce thing going on at home. Y/N had needed someone to make her happy, someone to keep her distracted from the shit storm life had thrown at her. And her cousin and his friends had been just the people she was looking for.

"Chicken!" Stan suddenly exclaimed, causing the group to stop their fighting and snapping Y/N out of her thoughts almost instantly. "Let's play chicken."

"What are you going on about, Stanley?" Y/N asked confused causing Richie to gasp out of pure horror.

"You don't know what chicken is?" Richie questioned in disbelief. "Stan, what are you teaching this girl?"

"Hey, don't blame me!" Stan insisted. "I thought she knew what chicken was!"

"Okay, see you keep saying it, but no one is actually explaining what it actually is," Y/N pointed out. "Saying it over and over isn't going to make me understand it any more than I already do."

"It's a g-g-game," Bill explained while the others nodded their heads.

"There are two teams of two and each pair has one of their people on the shoulders of the others. The objective is to basically try and knock the other off their partner's shoulders and into the water. First pair to fall loses," Eddie told her.

"Honestly, there's no use explaining it to her," Richie shrugged while the others looked to him. He smirked slightly before saying, "Everyone knows I'm the reigning champion. No need to get her hopes up in thinking that she can defeat me."

"Woah," Y/N laughed. "You sure about that, Richie? Who knows? Maybe I'm amazing at this game and you just don't know it yet."

"Yeah, and neither do you," Richie poked fun making both him and the girl chuckle.

"Well then let's find out," Y/N said while Richie gave her a surprised look.

"Oh, you're on," Richie laughed, a smirk appearing on his face. His eyes then lit up and he quickly yelled out, "I call Stan!"

"What?" Y/N cried out. "No fair!"

"No, what's not fair is you getting to have Stan as your partner because he's your cousin. Besides, I called him fair and square. He's my partner now," Richie insisted while Stan gave his cousin an apologetic look.

Y/N huffed in frustration and crossed her arms before yelling out, "Bill!"

Said boy instantly jumped in surprise at the fact that she was yelling his name before looking over at her. "Yes?" he said in a questioning tone.

"Want to be my partner and help me kick their asses?" Y/N asked, the fact that he had been her first choice after her cousin making him smile.

"It would be my p-p-pleasure," Bill laughed making the girl send a thankful grin his way before she swam over to him.

It was then that Bill seemed to realize that he would have to hold the girl up on his shoulders and he looked away with wide eyes and tried to control his nervous heartbeat as he went under water. He felt Y/N's feet graze against his shoulders before she sat down. Bill held his hands up and Y/N grabbed onto them, interlocking their hands as Bill stood up.

Their interlocked hands was the only reason Y/N managed to stay on top of Bill's shoulders as they tried to gain balance. And even when they had gained their balance, neither of them let go. It was only when Richie was securely on Stan's shoulders that they let go of each other's hands and Bill was sure to squeeze her hands in good luck before letting go, moving his hands down to grip onto her legs instead.

Y/N couldn't help but notice that Bill had chosen to grab onto her calves instead of her thighs and she smiled softly at how sweet the boy was before her kind nature turned into a menacing smile and narrowed eyes.

"You ready, Tozier?" Y/N called out making Richie laugh.

"You know it, babe," Richie winked at her.

"I'll flip you off right now if you call her that one more time," Stan threatened making Richie hold his hands up in defeat.

Bill chuckled softly and opened his mouth to begin the countdown. Y/N and Richie quickly got ready, both of them with their arms up in the air as they waited for Bill to tell them to start.

It was only when Bill had given them the green light that the two lunged forward, the intense game of chicken fight beginning. Their hands collided almost instantly and both began to trash talk each other as they tried their hardest to shove the other off of their partner.

Y/N didn't know how long they had been fighting for, but with her strength and Bill's tactfulness in the way he moved her forward at precise moments and would move out of the way enough to make Stan stumble, the two were eventually able to make Richie lose his balance so that he went flying back into the water, his leg ultimately dragging Stan underwater as well.

Y/N and Bill instantly let out a cry of victory while Beverly, Ben, and Eddie cheered the two on from the side. Richie and Stan eventually came back above the water only to find Y/N and Bill laughing and cheering. Richie rolled his eyes and slyly swam over to Bill without him noticing before taking his foot and gently kicking his knee from behind so that the boy's knee buckled.

This led to Bill losing his stance and Y/N wobbled on top of him before the two fell backwards into the water, screams escaping both of their lips as they fell. They came above the water with confused looks on their faces before they noticed Richie laughing with his hands holding on to his side.

Bill and Y/N both looked to each other and gave each other small nods before they turned and splashed Richie with as much water as they could. Richie fell silent almost instantly, his mouth wide open while his wet hair hung in his face.

Richie went to splash the two, but Stan quickly stopped him as he chuckled softly to himself. "Come on, Richie. Beverly and Ben want a turn," Stan told him, secretly winking at his cousin and Bill for having saved them while Richie frowned and turned to the boy.

"Fine, but this time I'm going to need you to work with me. How am I supposed to win when you can't fucking keep your balance?" Richie complained before he swam off with Stan, leaving Bill and Y/N to chuckle softly to themselves.

Y/N shook her head as she watched Richie and Stan start to fight against Beverly and Ben, laughter falling from her lips as Richie scolded her cousin for not doing anything to help out. Bill couldn't stop himself from watching the girl as she laughed, his eyes trailing over her face and the water droplets that rolled down her face and collected at her chin before she wiped them off.

The water seemed to make her skin sparkle in the sunlight, so it was pretty hard for Bill to look away from a view as beautiful as that.

But then Y/N was looking his way, having sensed his stare and Bill was quick to look to the water, acting as if he hadn't just been staring at her.

He heard the girl chuckle softly from beside him and Bill sighed before letting his eyes flicker back over to her, knowing that he had been caught and there was no use denying it. He was met with a stunning pair of e/c eyes and that Y/N Uris smile and a blush instantly spread onto his cheeks as he looked at her.

"H-H-Hi," Bill whispered, mentally face palming himself for being so stupid. Hi? Was he being serious right now?

Y/N didn't seem fazed and merely continued to smile at him, her eyes scanning over his features as she whispered, "Hi."

Bill didn't know how he hadn't noticed, but the two were a lot closer together than he had thought, their arms only being inches away. He didn't know what had him doing it, but with a sudden wave of bravery, the boy began to reach out, his hand brushing against the girl's arm before he began to trail down to her hand.

Y/N's eyes flickered down before she looked back up at the boy who was looking anywhere but at her face. Smiling softly to herself, Y/N also looked away before moving her hand up to brush against Bill's. The two were silent as their fingers brushed over each other's before they slowly began to come together, gently molding together until their hands were interlocked.

Neither of them dared to move, but each of them was trying desperately to hold back the smiles on their faces as they looked away from each other. What was going on was still a mystery to the two of them, but the only thing they knew was that it felt nice to be holding each other's hand. So they didn't bother saying anything about it.

But then Y/N's hand was jerking away from Bill's as she yelled out, "Ah fuck! What was that?"

Bill's eyes widened slightly and he looked to the girl like a lost puppy as he asked almost heartbreakingly, "W-W-What?"

Y/N's eyes widened as she realized what it must've seemed like and she quickly shook her head. "Oh, no. I. . .something bit my ankle," Y/N said, her eyes flickering over Bill's face as a look of relief took over his features.

He blushed slightly before saying, "Oh."

The others all seemed to have heard Y/N's scream and were swimming over to them in no time. "What's wrong? What happened?" Stan asked, his eyes filled with concern.

"Something bit me," Y/N explained as she looked down at the water confused.

"Something bit you?" Eddie asked in horror, his eyes wide as he began to swim around a little frantically.

"Calm down, Eds," Richie said. "She probably just grazed her foot against a piece of glass or something.”

"Glass?" Eddie squeaked out, his face getting paler by the minute.

Bill, who had been frowning down at the water, didn't even hesitate before taking in a deep breath and diving under the water. He came back up not even a second later with laughter escaping his mouth as he looked to Y/N amused.

"It's a turtle," he said, his eyes sparkling with amusement as he tried not to laugh. The others all chuckled while Y/N narrowed her eyes playfully at the boy.

"Shut it, Denbrough," Y/N muttered while the boy chuckled softly. Y/N joined him not too long later and the two smiled softly at each other as their laughter died down. However, they barely had time to even blink before water was splashed against both of their faces, their mouths dropping open as they squeezed their eyes shut to keep the water out.

"Payback, motherfuckers!"

"Tozier!"

And that was how their second round of water fighting began.

- - -

This here's a tale for all the fellas

Tryin' to do what those ladies tell us

Get shot down cause ya over-zealous

Play hard to get females get jealous

Y/N didn't know how Beverly had done it, but some how the red head had been able to convince her to get out of the water to sunbathe with her. It was like all the insecurities Y/N had before jumping in had washed away and Y/N hadn't even thought twice before getting out of the water to lay in the sun, a small smile gracing her face as the warmth of the sun kissed her skin.

Her h/c hair spilled out all around her in slight waves from having dried long ago and she seemed to be glowing because of how happy she was. Her teeth sparkled in the sunlight as she smiled and mouthed along to the words of 'Bust a Move' which was playing on the radio the group had brought.

Okay smarty go to a party

Girls are scantily clad and showin' body

A chick walks by you wish you could sex her

But you're standing on the wall like you was Pointdexter

Bill couldn't take his eyes off of the girl, none of the boys could really. All except for Stan who kept glaring at the boys for staring at his cousin in that way while also sneaking glances at Beverly, not used to seeing a girl in nothing but their underwear. The boys all sat a little wide eyed with their mouths slightly open as they gazed at the girls, but Bill only had eyes for Y/N and found it impossible to tear his gaze away from her.

Y/N didn't even seem to notice the staring coming from the boys, too caught up in the song to be paying any attention to her surroundings. She probably wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for Beverly lightly nudging the girl and whispering, "They're staring at us."

Next days function high class luncheon

Food is served and you're stone-cold munchin'

Music comes on people start to dance

But then you ate so much you nearly split your pants

It was then that Y/N finally acknowledged the stares and she instantly blushed before both her and Beverly turned their heads to look at the boys. Their eyes all widened in surprise and they were quick to look away, some of them coughing awkwardly while they all pretended as if they hadn't just been caught staring at the girls.

Beverly and Y/N glanced at each other and chuckled softly before turning their bodies around so that they were propped up by their elbows. While they did this, the boys who were still a little red faced tried to find something to do to make it seem like they hadn't been staring.

Richie eventually caught sight of Ben's backpack and grabbed it before looking to the boy with an amused expression as he used one of his many comedic voices to say, "News flash, Ben. School's out for summa."

Y/N chuckled softly at Richie who winked in her direction while Ben looked to his backpack. "Oh that? That's not school stuff," Ben told him while Richie began to rummage through his things.

His eyes lit up at something and he was quick to pull a small postcard out of the boy's backpack before looking to Ben with a smirk. "Who sent you this?" Richie asked teasingly, wiggling his eyebrows at the boy.

Ben's eyes widened and he was quick to snatch the postcard from Richie before he could read anything. "No one!" Ben insisted while Richie smiled in amusement at the boy. Ben shook his head and shoved the postcard back into his backpack as he whispered, "No one."

Thankfully Richie didn't seem to want to pester the boy and moved on, pulling out a small blue folder from the boy's backpack and opening it up to reveal newspaper articles on the Black Spot explosion.

"What's with the history project?" Richie asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"Oh well, when I first moved here, I really didn't have anyone to hang out with so I just started spending time in the library," Ben explained while Richie handed the folder over to Bill.

Y/N furrowed her eyebrows curiously and was quick to pull herself up onto her feet and go sit next to Bill as she glanced down at the newspaper. Bill's eyes widened slightly at the close proximity and stared at the girl for a split second before gulping softly and looking back down at the newspapers as he tried to calm his nerves.

"You went to the library? On purpose?" Richie questioned in both disgust and horror making Y/N chuckle and roll her eyes at the boy.

"Some people enjoy going to the library, Richie," Y/N informed him making the boy give her a confused look.

"Why?" he asked, his nose scrunching up as he looked at the girl in utter bewilderment.

"Oh, I wanna see," Beverly said as she scrambled to her feet and went to sit in between Bill and Ben, not noticing the way that Ben tensed ever so slightly before looking to the girl with a blush dusting his cheeks.

"What's the Black Spot?" Stan asked, having caught sight of the papers for a moment and wondering what exactly it was about.

"The Black Spot was a nightclub that was burned down years ago by that racist cult," Eddie explained.

"The what?" Stan questioned as both him and Y/N gave Eddie the same confused look.

Eddie blinked slightly in surprise at just how similar the two cousins looked in that moment with their eyebrows scrunching together and the corner of their mouth twitching up slightly into a confused smile as they stared at him before he asked, "Don't you watch Geraldo?"

"Who?" Y/N questioned making the boy give her an appalled look as he put a hand to his chest like her question had physically wounded him.

"Your hair," a soft voice said making the group turn away from their discussion to see that Ben was staring at Beverly with wide eyes. It was obvious he hadn't meant to say those words out loud and Beverly looked to the boy almost nervously as she gave him a confused look. Ben finally seemed to snap out of his daze as he said, "Your hair looks beautiful, Beverly."

Beverly blinked in surprise before smiling as she brushed some strands of hair behind her ear. "Oh, right. Thanks," she whispered while Ben looked to the ground bashfully.

Y/N and Bill both glanced at each other in confusion before Bill shrugged. Y/N smiled and let out a small chuckle while Bill watched her in adoration.

Richie looked between the two pairs who were obviously crushing on each other and rolled his eyes, not being able to take it anymore. "Here, pass," the boy said, snapping the four kids out of their trances as Bill tore his gaze away from Y/N to pass the folder to Richie.

"Why's it all murders and missing kids?" Richie asked as he glanced at the folder once again before passing it to Stan so that him and Eddie could see.

"Derry's not like any town I've ever been in before. They did a study once and it turns out people die or disappear six times the national average," Ben told them, his words making all of them stop what they were doing to look at him.

"You read that?" Beverly questioned while the kids all shared looks with one another. It didn't take a genius for them to realize that the mood had grown just a little darker, but Ben didn't seem to notice and continued.

"And that's just grown-ups. Kids are worse—way, way worse," Ben said while Y/N and Stan locked eyes. Y/N could see the small trace of fear on her cousin's eyes and she was sure her eyes held the same as they both gulped.

"I've got more stuff, if you want to see it," Ben suggested and Eddie was quick to shake his head as he looked to his friends. But by the looks on their faces, it was clear they wanted to go see what Ben was talking about. So all Eddie could do was let out a small sigh while Y/N offered him a sympathetic smile.

This was going to be fun.

* * *

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[666coffeeboi]

Rapunzel

Fanfic summary: Richie comes to check on Eddie after his arm was broken. Cute, innocent things happen.

Eddie was laying in his bed with his arm in the cast on his lap. He had been reading and rereading his books. he had already counted his pills and organized them and his inhalers. He had a rhythm in his room. He read, sketched, cleaned, and organized mostly.

He was trying to push away what had happened yesterday with the losers. He felt bad. He hated how he had been dragged away from his only friends. He had seen all of his friends’ faces when he had been dragged away with his arm in so much pain. He had heard he mom call Beverly dirty. He had heard her yelling at all of them before getting in the car and driving him to the hospital.

He already missed them.

Not that he wanted to go back to trying to fight It or find Georgie. He was gone. Bill didn’t want to believe that. He couldn’t believe it. Eddie had tried to be understanding. Bill had been his first and only friend for years until they’d met the others.

He had been so grateful for the friends and now they might never talk to him again. They probably hated him for not sticking up to his mom for them, not defending himself or them. He had always been bad at confrontation and intimidating things.

Right then, he had been remembering how he had fallen through the floor running from the leper. Then, he had been sure he was going to die in that moment. He had luckily managed to walk away from that thing after having Its bigtoothed mouth an inch away from Eddie’s face. It hadn’t been luck. It hadn’t ever been luck. It had always been his friends protecting him, mostly Richie. Speaking of, he had been sketching for a couple hours and only just realized he had been sketching Richie.

He had been a sobbing mess while being nearly killed by It. Thankfully, Richie and Bill had come to the rescue. He could remember Richie yelling his name and, after being taunted by It, they’d run to help Eddie, who was already in the most physical pain he had ever been in before. He was sitting against the wall with Richie and Bill on each side, holding onto him. Ben, Mike, and Stan were standing on the other side of the room in shock, staring at It, who clawed the holy shit out of Ben before making a run for it. Eddie definitely didn’t mind all the times Richie had clung to him when bad things happen, when he wanted to protect him. Eddie hated feeling so damn vulnerable all the time. He was utterly useless. He couldn’t help them kill It ever anyway.

Tap. Tap.

What the fuck? That sounded like stones on his window. He made a tiny noise as he stood up slowly walking towards the window. He entirely expected It, but he saw what appeared to be Richie. He gave him a look.

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair,” Richie joked quietly with a tiny smirk up at him. Eddie looked down from the window at him.

“I don’t know if you’re even the real Richie… Also, if are real, what do you expect me to do to get you up here? I have no hair?” Eddie questioned, still staring at him. He didn’t think he was It, but he had been wrong before. He sighed. He might regret this. “My mom’s at work for a couple more hours. I’ll come down.”

He did come down, getting a bit wet from the sudden rainstorm. When he moved, his entire arm burned. He let out a tiny hiss of pain and Richie looked down at him with his worried eyes behind those bigass glasses.

“You okay?” Richie asked after they’d walked in to sit on his bed. Eddie sneered lightly.

“Never better, Rich,” he retorted and he remembered he had his sketchbook out on his bed with the sketches of Richie just open for anyone to see. He blushed slightly and leaned over to immediately slam it closed.

“Sorry, I was just worried. Obviously, only because I want your mom to like me,” he explained, gazing down at Eddie. He pushed up his glasses. The shorter boy was shivering from that damn rain. Richie noticed and shook his head. He went to go get a towel from Eddie’s bathroom closet. he had been there enough to know that much. The taller boy brought him a towel and sat beside him to start gently drying him off. “How much does it hurt? Is there anything I can do?”

“It’s not too bad in the cast, but I looked at it and nearly passed out again… It actually doesn’t hurt so much in the cast, only when I move too much. I’ve been trying to distract myself. Why are you here anyway? You’re okay?” Eddie found himself rambling by the end. He looked up at the other boy, who looked sad? Upset somehow. He made a face. What was on his best friend’s face? Was it a cut? Eddie didn’t remember it being there yesterday when his mom came to take him away. Without thinking, he scooted close enough to reach up over to run his fingers gently over Richie’s cheek. “Is that a cut on your face? That wasn’t there when I left yesterday. What happened? Richie, I’m s-“

“Shh, it’s okay, Eds. It’s not your fault. None of it. I’m fine. It wasn’t that monster. It was Bill. Anyway, I just wanted to check on you because we were all worried after what happened, for obvious reasons,” Richie said quietly as he gently wrapped his arms around the other boy’s waist where it wouldn’t hurt his arm. Eddie felt his eyes swelling up. He bit his lip.

“Okay, you’re definitely on my mom’s good side. Do you think you can give some birth control to your sister for me?” Eddie had to add some kind of joke. He had taken after Richie more and more. “Also, why are you sorry? You didn’t do anything.”

“Exactly. I didn’t do anything helpful quick enough to actually make a difference. We could’ve gotten to you way earlier, but I let shit get to me. I probably should’ve asked to set your arm. I just feel like I’ve been not helping anyone, definitely not you, my best friend. I’m sorry I couldn’t take all the stuff for you today,” Richie rambled as he held onto him. Eddie bit his lip while he hugged the taller boy. He felt his glasses pressed against his head.

No one ever saw Richie like this, so obviously vulnerable. Eddie had seen him cry one time ever. When he had ended up walking past him after he had been attacked by that lumberjack. he had been too traumatized to immediately explain what had happened to him. Obviously, something to do with It, but there was more.

The pair rarely had moments as soft as this and it was always strange when it happened because they were always bickering. They were best friends, though. They were the kind of best friends who did everything for the other. Richie was definitely Eddie’s closest friend. He loved the boy.

“Sh, it’s okay. You didn’t make anything worse. You didn’t mess up anything and you’re braver than most of us, definitely me. You- Rich, all you did was protect your friends. You guys saved me. You did that, so please don’t be upset,” he mumbled into the hug.

“Okay. Thank you, Eds,” Richie said and nodded. After a bit, Richie pulled away from the hug and gave Eddie a small smile. “You said your mom won’t be back for a while, right? Do you like cookie dough? I’ll get you all sweetened up to get on your mom’s good side.”

“Oh, hush. Also, you would not be getting on her good side, only her bad side. I’m not allowed to eat most things. Definitely not raw cookie dough. Salmonella and everything else. Make me some?” Eddie explained as they walked down to the kitchen.

“Well, how about this: if we get salmonella, we’ll do it together,” Richie amended and chuckled lightly.

He didn’t know Richie could actually do anything in the kitchen, but, shit. The taller boy ended up not just making them cookie dough from scratch. He, also, decided Eddie should eat something his mom hadn’t made him. He made them a panfull of sloppy joes and, fuck, it smelled so good. Eddie’s mouth was almost watering. he had obviously never had anything even a little unhealthy.

“You okay, spaghetti head? You’re looking at that meat how your mom looked at me last night when she ca-“ Richie teased him with a smirk as he put the food on plates he found in one of the cabinets, the one beside the medicine cabinet. Eddie sighed and glared.

“Oh, my fucking god. Shut the hell up, Richie. That’s disgusting. Also, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that,” the shorter boy said. Richie snickered at him wickedly.

They got their food and went to sit on the couch together. They settled down and decided to watch a new episode of Full House while eating. Eddie took one bite of the sloppy joe and let out a made a tiny sound because it was really good, surprisingly.

“Shit, Rich, that might taste even better than your sister,” Eddie teased him. Richie rolled his eyes and smirked over to him.

“Funny. I was about to say the same about your mom, spaghetti,” he responded.

After that, they continued eating the food Richie had made. Eddie obviously had his own bowl for his cookie dough. he had been sleepy already that day due to the whole arm breaking thing yesterday. he had been in the emergency room all of yesterday directly after being face to face with It. He had been so scared. He could hardly move. he had been paralyzed with fear and thankfully the others had come to rescue his worthless ass. He hated himself. Why couldn’t he be more brave like Richie or Beverly or Bill?

Anyway, he had eventually stopped thinking about yesterday and he turned back to paying attention to the television screen. After a little while, Richie realized his friend had passed out beside him, his head on Richie’s shoulder. The taller boy sighed to himself. Why did this guy make it so hard to be normal? He didn’t want these damn feelings. He bit his lip and decided he might as well just enjoy the moment. He gazed over at Eddie’s adorable sleeping face. He was way more relaxed looking in his sleep. Richie smiled just the tiniest bit and leaned against the other boy. Finally, he passed out beside Eddie. He was so happy he wasn’t more hurt or worse. Richie didn’t know what he would do if Eddie wasn’t there, keeping him in check.

It was that moment that Richie thanked whatever force brought him Eddie Kaspbrak.

[reddieorrnot]

10 + 21 please?? (I would die if you included pining best friends where everyone knows and it’s painfully obvious that they’re using bantering as flirting)

i keep telling myself i’m going to make the shorter, yet fail every time. i know this isn’t specifically what you asked for, but i hope it’s just as good! 

The Losers were absolutely tired of Richie and Eddie’s arguments, or at least that’s what the two called them. The rest of them always exchanged glances when they began to quarrel, yet quickly calming down. They all saw the way Richie would bluntly flirt with Eddie, more than anyone else. And they all saw how sometimes, when Eddie thought no one was looking, he looked at Richie like he put the moon and stars in the sky. Richie and Eddie had always masked their crushes on each other with fighting, that’s what Bill would tell the others. It wasn’t until around the age of thirteen where Richie would get pink looking at Eddie, or where Eddie would get defensive if anyone outside of their friend group made fun of Richie. It had been three years since then, and the two were still as clueless as ever. 

***

“Even the blindest could see they’re flirting,” Beverly said one day. 

She was the one person Richie had actually confided in that he liked Eddie. When it was just him and Beverly, he’d talk her ear off about the boy and how amazing he was. Beverly was convinced that if she had to go yet another year listening to Richie talk about how amazing Eddie was, she’d combust on the spot. 

The group had come together at Bill’s for their weekly movie night. It had been their tradition for a while, everyone always making sure at least two of them could go over to Bill’s. The group rotated turns for who could pick the movie. Beverly spoke only because the two of the given topic had not arrived yet, setting up the perfect time for an open discussion. She could easily assume that because Richie was in charge of picking tonight’s movies, they were running late because either Eddie didn’t like the movies he picked and they were trying to decide on better ones, or Richie forgot to pick the movies in general and now Eddie had to do damage control. 

Her comment brought forth a chuckle from Mike, who was stationed in the kitchen, preparing snacks with Ben. Or at least that was the given task, but currently, only Mike prepared any food because Ben had gone to the bathroom right before. Even though Ben had gone over to the Denbrough’s house countless times, he also found himself getting a little lost, this being the reason Mike had to find where Bill could have popcorn for the last five minutes by himself. 

Stan, as he claimed, was helping Bill get plates and napkins for the food they were going to have during the movie. It was clear, though, that Stan was actually just leaning against the counter next to Beverly reading a newspaper that Bill’s dad had left lying about earlier that day. 

Bill, on the other hand, was actually getting bowls and plates. It had been a funny occurrence many years ago when he had asked his parents if they could have at least seven of every plate. He had even offered to pay for some of the expenses. The losers were very grateful. 

“Their bickering makes me sick, I wish they’d just shut up and make a move,” Stan stated in an annoyed tone. Stan never got too much into conversations over Richie and Eddie like Beverly. He told his friends that he just wanted them to get together so they’d stop annoying everyone with their fighting. Stan would never admit though, that he found the idea of Richie and Eddie together quite cute. The other three laughed at Stan’s comment. 

“But God knows R-Richie won’t make the f-first move,” Bill said as he grabbed a bowl for the popcorn Mike was grabbing from the pantry. This caused Beverly to quirk an eyebrow, ready to defend her best friend. She knew that one of these days, Richie would gather up the courage to tell Eddie how he felt. No one got to dismiss the courage he was building up, not even Bill.

“I'm sorry, what? And you think Eddie will?” She retaliated, tone defensive. 

Bill turned around to face the redhead and scoffed, “Richie doesn’t have the balls to tell Eddie how he feels, obviously,”

Stan cut in before Bill could continue, “Perhaps he doesn’t have the balls, But Richie’s got the motormouth to let a confession slip out.”

“That isn’t the exact argument I’d make, Stan,” Beverly put her hand up in a high five, “But I’m glad you’re on my side.” Without looking up at her, Stan gave the girl a high five. She found humor in his deadpan expression and couldn’t help but giggle. 

“While I do agree that Richie’s got a mouth that runs for days,” Mike weighed in as he placed the popcorn bag into the microwave, “Eddie’s far more likely to just snap and talk about his feelings.”

“Mike! You traitor!” Beverly dramatically clutched her heart, a motion that reminded everyone of Richie. Stan rolled his eyes at the action but in no sense of rudeness. 

“Mike, my m-man! Knew you had a b-b-brain,” Bill nudged Mike with his elbow, the two cracking up.

The sound of footsteps came and Ben followed, eyes falling on him. He was going to tell him how silly it was that he always managed to turn down the wrong hallway when trying to find Bill’s bathroom, but he noticed everyone’s peculiar expression before even opening his mouth. All at once, all the friends began asking Ben questions, but Beverly’s was the one he automatically focused on.

“Ben! Who would make the first move? Richie or Eddie?” She asked him hurriedly. In all honesty, Ben didn’t know what his answer would have been, luckily Beverly quickly added on, “Richie, right?” 

He didn’t even think about it, because come on, it was Beverly. 

“Oh, yeah, duh.” 

Mike and Bill groaned and shook their heads. The group bickered again, each side laying out reasons why they were correct and everyone abandoning whatever task they had been attending to beforehand. The beeping of the microwave didn’t even bother Mike as he turned it off and quickly returned to explaining to Ben why Eddie would totally confess during the heat of an argument. Beverly wasn’t even letting Bill speak, channeling her inner Richie as she kept laying out points faster than the other boy could keep up. Stan would have joined in, and he would have made fair arguments, but an invisible light bulb went off on top of his head as he came up with an idea. 

Suddenly, Stan’s voice came out interested and intrigued. “How about we hold a bet?” 

All heads turned and looked at Stan. 

“W-What?” Bill was the only one who dared to speak with Stan as evil twinkled in his eyes. 

“If Eddie makes a move first, Bev, Ben, and I will be on movie night clean up for two months. If Richie makes the first move, then it’s you and Mike’s job.” 

The room went silent for a second, everyone considering the risks in their head. Movie night clean up the morning after was an absolute massacre. The teens made such a big mess that they usually had to work all together to clean up. Everyone would always be exhausted afterward, and getting to sit back during those cleanups would be like becoming royalty. And even if the prize hadn’t been so great, everyone was so set on being proven correct that it didn’t matter. 

“Deal,” Beverly said, glancing over at Ben. He looked incredibly nervous, but he calmed down when Beverly glanced his way. He then turned to Stan and gave him a nod. 

Mike and Bill whispered for a second, talking about how confident they were in Eddie. With Mike’s calmness and Bill’s reassurance, they both agreed they couldn’t go wrong. 

“Deal,” Bill told Stan, glaring at Beverly with competition building between them, considering they were the two who had started this talk in the beginning. 

Stan would say this was solely was to prove he was correct, but he also enjoyed the gleam of rivalry he saw in his friend’s eyes. Movie nights sometimes got boring, and this screamed enjoyment and fun for the friends. Stan briefly wondered what they would tell Richie and Eddie once the bet was completed, but he didn’t ponder on that for too long. The atmosphere was interrupted by a loud knocking on the front door. 

“Open up, fuckers! The party’s arrived!” 

“Richie, maybe you should try being a little louder? I don’t think goddamn Europe was able to hear you!” 

Everyone looked to the door, registering the familiar voices. Stan smirked as he put down the newspaper, and began walking to the door. Right before he got to it, he turned back around to face the rest of his friends. 

“Let it begin.” 

And then he opened the door. 

***

Beverly had been right about the movie set back. Richie had completely forgotten it was his week, and had frantically called Eddie asking for help. Eddie had gladly taken the opportunity to snag Richie’s picking week, and they spent about twenty minutes choosing something they could both agree on. The first movie that Eddie popped into the player, was The Karate Kid. Mike gave Eddie a big smile when he learned this, Eddie knowing it was one of Mike’s favorite movies. As everyone settled into the living room, Ben finally helped Mike out with the food aspect like he was supposed to do earlier. They brought out bowls of candy and popcorn, along with cups of soda for everyone. Stan had politely declined the soda, asking if Bill had any juice instead. Bill let Stan know that they had Stan’s favorite brand of apple juice in the fridge, just for him. Everyone let out an affectionate “Aww,” as Stan thanked Bill for thinking of him. 

Finally, everyone was ready for the movie to start. Beverly and Richie sat on one end of the couch, Beverly occasionally leaning her head on Richie’s shoulder when she got random spurts of feeling a tad tired, he didn’t mind. Next to Richie was Ben, who then was next to Bill. On another part connected to the couch sat Eddie and Mike, where they had offered to squeeze for Stan to sit beside them, but he had truthfully let them know liked having the side chair for himself. 

Richie hadn’t particularly opposed this choice for the film, just not understood what was so great about the movie, Especially what was so great about the main actor. He had to sit through two hours of Eddie’s eyes lighting up whenever Ralph Macchio came on screen, along with Beverly giggling at Richie. 

Sometimes Richie would mumble something about being able to do the same stunts that “that karate dumbass” could do. Stan watched Richie pout, knowing he had the bet in the bag. 

When the film finally came to an end, Eddie leaned back on the couch with a grin. 

“I never get tired of that movie,” he shared. 

“It’s not even that good…” Richie muttered. Eddie sat back up and looked at Richie, with daggers in his gaze. “What? Just being honest, Eds.” 

“Of all times, now is not the moment to call me ‘Eds’!” 

“I just don’t get why you like that movie so much!” Richie exclaimed, hand gestures wilding as he spoke. It was usually now where one of the other friends interfered and tried to break up the fight before it began. But now with the bet weighing in, they listened in intensely and dared not to speak. Eddie nor Richie noticed the silence surrounding them, continuing to go back and forth.

“Come on, Richie! Next, you wanna tell me Back to the Future is better!” 

Richie gasped, whether it was his intention to do it dramatically or not was a mystery. “Are you telling me you don’t think Back to the Future is better than this load of shit?” 

Eddie rolled his eyes, getting up and walking over to where Richie was, on the other side of the couch. He stood in front of Richie and pointed a finger in his face, presumably enjoyed the change of height dynamic between the two at the given moment. 

“Back to the Future doesn’t have Ralph.”

Richie pushed the finger out of his face and let out a huff of anger, then put on a girly high pitched voice. “Because Ralph Macc-whatever-the-fuck is just so cute!” 

“He is! And he’s cuter than you! You... You asswipe!” Eddie raised his voice, but not to the extent to which Bill felt any need to calm them down. 

“Ouch, I’m wounded, Eddie Spaghetti!” Richie’s voice didn’t sound as playful as it tended to be when he used that nickname for Eddie, instead he sounded utterly annoyed. 

“It’s Eddie! And you know what? Ralph is cute, and he’s cool too!” 

Eddie had already been fairly close to Richie’s face, it was needed to make sure Richie heard every remark he made. But without any warning, Richie brought himself even closer to Eddie, grabbing his arm (not too hard but what the others could see) and pulling him down to eye level. It was a swift moment, done so specifically that Eddie nearly gasped. His eyes were locked on Richie’s, forgetting other people even existed, so much as that there were people existing in the same room. 

The tension in the environment thickened, and Beverly’s, Stan’s, and Ben’s pulse quickened. This was it, Richie was going to kiss Eddie or some shit. Bill and Mike grew anxious, hoping Eddie would lean forward onto Richie’s face and not the other way around. Everyone just wished one of the boys would do something. The room was so quiet, for the quick second Richie didn’t speak, everyone could hear Eddie’s light, quick breaths. But no faces were grabbed, and no lips were crashed into one another. 

“Yeah, okay, but I’m cooler,” Riche simply sneered, waited for a second as he stared at Eddie’s so close face, and pushed his friend back. 

No one said a word as Richie stood up, grabbed his cup, and made his way out of the living room and to the kitchen. The only thing that eventually accompanied the sound of Richie pouring himself some drink was Eddie’s quiet, “Holy fuck.”

After Richie returned and things fell back into a more normal state, the gang watched another movie. Heathers was Eddie’s next movie, which no one had any complaints towards. Maybe at one point, Eddie wanted to comment on how attractive JD’s actor was, but he was still unnerved from the earlier situation, so he kept quiet on that matter. Once the film had reached its ending, and Stan decided to tell everyone a deep analysis of JD’s character, the group had called it time for a break. At first, they just sat around chatting together, until Richie excitedly piped up.

“Can we play truth or dare?” 

He got shrugs for responses, as everyone accepted the request. 

Things started off light, truths consisted of embarrassing questions and dares were simple yet uneasy ones. 

“I c-can’t believe you’re the o-one who set off that fi-fi-fire alarm last year.” Bill gaped at Beverly. 

Ben had asked her a simple truth, to tell them a story about herself that the group didn’t already know. It was a troubling truth, but Beverly quickly remembered a story. She had told them about how last year, after being fed up with Greta’s bullshit, she had managed to push a lit cigarette into Greta’s locker. Beverly didn’t quite so regret it, but she understood now that t was in fact, very stupid. 

“You fucking smoked her locker, Bev! That’s awesome!” Richie gave Beverly a light punch in the arm, earning a laugh in return, 

“All her papers caught on fire, Rich. It was an awful thing of me to do!”

“Still,” Richie leaned back against the wall, as they were all seated on the floor now, “It’s still pretty badass.” 

“Okay Trashmouth, your turn. Truth or dare?” 

Richie stared at Beverly for a second, letting a grin dance upon his lips. “I want a smoothie dare.”

Everyone’s eyes widened, and Beverly let out a shocked, “No!”

The group of friends had come up with an addition to the game of truth or dare a while ago, but mainly Richie used it. It was his idea, to begin with, so it made sense. A smoothie dare, named by Bill for simplicity, was a dare that could be backed out of, but only if the person drank a smoothie made of whatever the friends wanted in it. It was a dangerous option and was usually not taken. But sometimes, only sometimes, would Richie randomly feel the need to remind everyone that he was the king of truth or dare. This was one of those times.

“Richie, why can’t you just do a normal dare?” Mike asked, putting his hand on Richie’s shoulder, maybe as an attempt to bring him down to Earth. The whole group nodded along, especially Eddie. He hated it when Richie did smoothie dares, just watching him drink whatever gross drink the rest of the group conjured up made Eddie’s stomach weak. He didn’t like to think about kissing Richie for over a week after whenever he did these things. 

Wouldn’t matter if you didn’t think about kissing him, Eddie thought to himself. He liked Richie so much it bothered him. 

“Guys, I need to prove my superiority amongst the losers club!” Richie explained gleefully.

“So you want to prove you’re the biggest loser?” Stan quirked an eyebrow.

“Richie you already do that! All the time!” Eddie cried, trying his best to convince Richie against his choice, but it was no use. 

“Beverly, give me a smoothie dare.” 

“We gotta make the smoothie first, Eddie, you can stay here with Richie.” No one thought too much of Beverly’s commanding until they were all in the kitchen ready to talk about the smoothie’s ingredients. Everyone but Beverly was going through the cabinets and fridge, laying out the grossest things they could find. Once they had all finished, the boys realized Beverly had just been staring at them.

“Richie’s dare is gonna be to kiss Eddie,” She proclaimed. Bill automatically refuted and stepped forward.

“Hell no! That’s ch-cheating, you’re forcing h-him to make the fir-first move!” Bill quickly turned to Stan to get his intake.

“Well, Bill, Richie has the choice to drink the smoothie, which we all know he isn’t afraid to do.” 

Memories flooded within the group, of all the times Richie didn’t even need to drink the smoothie, just do whatever stupid dare, but he was fixed on making everyone feel queasy. Richie could most definitely drink the disgusting drink, he wasn’t scared of it.

While Beverly wasn’t confident that Richie would take this chance to make a move on Eddie, she knew she had to try. 

“Exactly. And, if I remember correctly, you said that Richie was afraid of any sort of confession to Eddie-”

“I said he didn’t h-have the b-balls,” Bill interrupted.

“Same thing, either way, you shouldn’t be scared about this.” Beverly finished and shrugged, looking over to Mike, who gave her a half-smile.

“It’s fine Bill, Richie won’t do it,” Mike reassured Bill, who simply sighed and nodded. Beverly beamed at the confirmation and turned to glance at Ben. She knew Ben was mainly just on her side because she had that impact on him, but that didn’t bother her, especially not right now. Ben gave her a kind thumbs up, that being the last thing she needed. 

“Let's make this fucking smoothie!” The girl laughed. 

“So what’s for dinner?” Richie strolled into the kitchen with his arm around Eddie, who looked like he’d rather not be within Richie’s hold. But they all knew that deep down, Eddie liked it.

Mike cleared his throat, and ignored how nauseous he felt as he listed off the smoothie’s ingredients. “Two eggs, link sausage, lemon pepper, two anchovies, uncooked but warm brussels sprouts, cold mustard, and pre-cooked liver.” 

While everyone else cringed, Richie threw his head back in laughter. 

“Holy shit! You guys went crazy with this one!” 

“We had to make it equal to how crazy the dare is,” Beverly smirked, grabbed a glass cup from the cupboards and filling it with the smoothie. Bill jumped up and sat on the counter, Mike mirroring his actions. The kitchen had started to get a little crowded, they both had noticed. The absence of their bodies freed up some space as Ben and Stan leaned back against the wall, opening the whole floor to Richie, Eddie, and Beverly, who was going to move in a second. Ben noticed a playful gleam in her eyes, something that danced with excitement. Richie’s eyes were intrigued, ready to take on whatever came at him, and Eddie’s eyes? They just looked downright fearful. 

“Alright, toots, what’s the dare?” Richie picked up the cup of his fate, and brought it up to his nose to smell, gagging at the stench.

“You gotta kiss Eddie.” 

The kitchen fell into a quiet state, Eddie’s mouth falling into a gasp. Richie’s eyes narrowed, staring right into Beverly’s. Richie wondered what she was up to, wondering why she’d use the knowledge of his infatuation of Eddie this way. He then wondered what would happen if he took the dare, if he didn’t drink the smoothie. Would Eddie let him? Would Richie finally get to diminish his thoughts that questioned what kissing his best friend would feel like? But then they’d question why he took the dare, and didn’t drink the smoothie, because Richie always went the extra mile to let everyone know he was daring like that. So Richie tore his eyes off of Beverly and turned to face Eddie. Who apparently, had been staring right back at him. The silence was becoming too much for Richie.

“Any way I can double team, drink the smoothie and kiss my Eds?” He joked, trying his best to put up an image that contrasted what he really wanted to do.

Ben cut in, shaking his head. “No, Rich, you gotta pick one.” 

“Yeah like I’d ever even let you get anywhere near me after drinking that shit!” Eddie’s outburst wasn’t essentially out of anger, but anxiety. What was Richie going to do? Eddie knew what he was going to do. Richie was going to drink that goddamn smoothie because it was probably less disgusting to Richie than kissing Eddie. The concept bred sadness deep within Eddie, but he pushed it down. Richie surprisingly chuckled and moved closer to Eddie. 

“Oh please, you know you’d be all over me no matter what smoothie I just had,” He purred, making a red tint spread across Eddie’s cheeks. 

“Sure, fuckface, if you drink that shit and even come a foot near me I’ll beat your ass to the moon!” 

Everyone caught onto Eddie’s excessive swearing something that struck a chord within them all, except Richie, who only found it exciting. 

“My little cutie wants to beat my ass? Kinky!” He said, still moving in closer to Eddie, who looked frantic for a comeback. 

“Shut up, Richie!” 

Finally, Richie was right in front of Eddie, looking down at him. Eddie noticed how glossy and dark Richie’s eyes were, and he didn’t know if that made him more nervous or less. Every single feeling he had ever had for Richie came together within him, creating one huge adoration. So close Eddie swore he could see the ocean’s waves in Richie’s blue eyes, and Richie could see the specs of gold in Eddie’s big, brown eyes. 

“You keep saying how you’ll fuck me up and everything,” Richie began in a low voice, “But Eddie, you’re not very intimidating.” 

The world seemed to crumble around Eddie, and Richie was the only thing that remained. His brain repeated Richie’s name over and over again, to every detail on his face to every piece of banter they had ever shared. From every time Eddie wished he could just shut Richie up with his lips, to every time Richie had been there for Eddie when he needed him most. Of course, Eddie wasn't very intimidating. Intimidation was something used to make people cower before you, drive them away. That wasn’t what Eddie wanted Richie to do. He wanted Richie close, as close as he could get. He never wanted to drive Richie away, or make him cower away. That’s all he ever wanted. And by the way Richie was looking in Eddie’s eyes right now, how Eddie could hear Richie’s shallow breaths, he risked assuming that’s what Richie wanted too. That he wanted Eddie. 

“I’m not drinking the smoothie, Beverly,” Richie spoke up again, not leaving his gaze from Eddie. That had confirmed Eddie’s speculation, it had confirmed everything Eddie wanted to be true. 

Behind Richie and Eddie, the group of friends displayed different expressions and emotions. Bill and Mike, who interiorly were upset at losing the bet, had their mouths hung in shock. Stan's eyes were wide, watching the scene before him. Ben, had the biggest grin on his face, happy for his friends. And Beverly, well she had the most satisfied smirk, knowing she had done her job and wasn’t going to be cleaning up any movie night messes for a while. 

But before Richie could complete his dare, Eddie took control.

It as Eddie who brought his hands up, put them on Richie’s cheeks, and pulled him down.

It was Eddie who couldn’t take it any longer, the waiting. He had been waiting for years, wondering when Richie would realize he had been standing there the whole time. He couldn’t hold back anymore. 

It was Eddie who crashed his lips into Richie’s, closing the space between them and hopefully opening a new chapter. 

Kissing Richie was like finally getting to breathe, as if he had been suffocating for the last sixteen years of his life. And in a way, he had been suffocating. The way his mother had always smothered him, forever making him feel weak. And she had done it so much, it had convinced Eddie that he was gentle, delicate, never to be tested or given freedom of choice. When he met Richie as a kid, he never understood why someone so loud, noisy, and chatty could make him feel happier than his quiet and calm home. Then, one day, Eddie had realized why. The calm and quiet house made Eddie feel like he was being put away in a shelter, because he was too fragile to be outside in a louder environment. But when he was with Richie, whether it was at school or while they hung out, he had never felt so strong. The way Richie let him bicker, let him spit insults that made him feel witty and quick. And how Richie always built up a fire in Eddie, making him feel powerful. The day they were in Richie’s room, and Eddie had spoken about wanting to leave Derry and make a life for himself, and Richie told him he could do anything he wanted. That was the day Eddie knew that Richie made him better, made him feel alive. Richie made Eddie feel more mended than any medicine his mother shoved down his throat ever did. Richie made him feel like he could do anything, just like kissing the best friend he had liked for years in his other friend’s kitchen. 

Kissing Eddie was the opposite, it was like coming home. Like Richie had been lost for so long, trying to find the one place he felt okay, and he had finally come across it. And that was more or less how it actually was. Richie always felt let he didn’t belong where he was, quickly trying to make himself fit in by making jokes and making people laugh. He had this fear that the people he cared most about didn’t really care for him that he was simply there because they merely put up with him. He sometimes felt that way at home, even though he knew his parents loved him, he couldn’t help it. He wondered if they wished they had gotten a boy who didn’t run his mouth so much, or who got in trouble less at school. He wondered if his friends really did mean the comments they made about him sometimes, if he really did deserve the nickname Trasmouth. But from the day Richie met Eddie, he couldn’t ignore the way the small boy made Richie want to try harder. He wanted to try harder to make Eddie laugh, and not because he was worried Eddie didn’t like him, because God, he loved Eddie’s laugh. He wanted to try harder with his behavior in school, not because of his parents, but because Eddie was so well behaved, and Richie couldn’t be around him as often if he was always in for detention. Eddie made Richie better, whether he knew it or not, and his comments never really bothered Richie. Not since the day a few years ago, where they were in Eddie’s room, and Richie’s doubt engulfed him. He had asked Eddie if he ever really meant the mean things he said, to which Eddie quickly said no to. Ever since that day, Richie never saw any cruelty behind Eddie’s words, because he also saw the way Eddie’s cheeks got warm when Richie teased him. Richie felt safe with Eddie, no doubt or anxiety, it was home. 

Richie was the one to pull away, breathless and in need of knowing if that had actually happened, or if he was dreaming. The way he watched Eddie’s eyes flutter open, and stare right back at him, as enough of an answer. 

“Wait, so who made the first move?” Ben spoke, leaving Eddie and Richie confused. They turned around to face their friends, which they had forgotten about. 

Before either of them could ask what Ben meant, Mike replied. 

“It was Eddie, he pulled Richie in.” A small smile moved its way onto Eddie’s lips. 

Beverly shook her head, “No, Richie’s the one who said he wanted to kiss Eddie.” 

“But he didn’t actually d-d-do it!” Bill declared. 

“But Eddie wouldn’t have done anything if Richie hadn’t basically said he wanted to kiss Eddie,” Stan remarked, shrugging. 

“Exactly, Stan!” Beverly’s agreement simply sent the friends into a deeper argument over who had won the bet, in which Eddie stood there trying to figure out was going on. And he would’ve eventually pieced it together, had Richie not grabbed him by the hand to bring him back to the living room, making sure they got some privacy this time. 

***

When Eddie and Richie did learn about the bet, they decided it was only fair that they were the two they got to sit out during movie night morning clean-ups, it was what the two deserved after all.