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richiefuckfacetozier · 5 years ago

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Chapter 2: Funny Feeling

Story: Why Can’t This Be Love

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Art of Eddie and Richie by @whatidoisxsecret

Located on Archive of Our Own

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Eddie’s leg was bouncing up and down quickly as he sat in the semi-empty Thai food restaurant. Mike and him always had lunch at on Wednesday. It started after Mike’s dad died for a source of comfort. Not that Eddie felt qualified in any way to comfort someone after the death of a parent when he could barely remember his own father, but Mike meant a lot to him. He needed someone who would listen. Who would not change the subject because they were uncomfortable like Bill, or make an inappropriate joke like Richie, or avoid the topic of fathers altogether like Beverly had every right to do. Ben used to come before his big promotion, it had him traveling too much now. That left, Eddie, who would listen, nod, give some thoughts, but mostly just be there for Mike.

They kept up their lunch dates long after Will Hanlon’s death because it was special to them. If there were a couple of dishes they both wanted, they would get them and share. Mike always got a dessert that Eddie would mooch from. Spending one on one time with Mike was easy, never worrisome.

For once, Eddie was especially nervous today because he had to lie to Mike. Lying to his friends was not his forte. He knew how to lie or fudge the truth, it was an important ability he developed living under his mother’s strict roof. The question wasn’t whether he could do it or not but the guilt might eat at him.

This was all Richie’s FAULT. Last night when he suggested they be each other’s dates to Ben and Beverly’s wedding, Eddie was so caught off guard that he found himself agreeing. Well, not exactly saying yes, but he certainly didn’t say no. He told Richie he would think about it. The idea was actually brilliant, the only problem would be convincing their friends they were dating and not just using a loophole in the ‘Eddie and Richie must have wedding dates’ rule.

He wasn’t even necessarily nervous to pretend to be Richie’s date. In fact, he found himself a little exhilarated at the prospect. Their conversation about how to handle this didn’t get very far, but Richie said they would have to start dropping hints to the losers club immediately. It wouldn’t be enough to be each other’s date, they must convince everyone they liked each other as more than best friends. It was this part that sent him into a bit of a spiral.

“Sorry, I’m late!” Mike came flying into him for a quick hug, almost tipping him out of the chair, then sat across picking up his menu. Eddie looked at the tired, yet caffeine-fueled human in front of him fondly. Mike was a handsome and extremely good-hearted man. It always surprised him that Mike was single, but Eddie had a feeling he was looking for the kind of true love his parents’ possessed. Which wouldn’t be easy to replicate as the Hanlons were a beautiful couple.

“You’re fine.” Eddie waved him off. “I’ve just been suffering from the boredom of waiting for you.”

Mike rolled his eyes, “So much suffering. I bet you were texting Richie the whole time.”

“No, I wasn’t!” his eyes flashed in irritation. He hadn’t been, nevermind that normally he would be texting Richie. Right now he felt a little nauseous thinking about it. “My life doesn’t revolve around him.”

Mike laughed, “No need to bite my head off.” Eddie rolled his eyes but begrudgingly smiled.

“So why were you late?” Eddie asked.

“Boss needed me to show a new employee around the library.” Mike picked up the menu. “She seems nice.”

“Nice?” Eddie raised an eyebrow in surprise. His friend tended to be very private about people he might find attractive. It was vital he stayed cautious, if not also a bit nosy, when trying to ask questions. He hesitated then, “Are you interested in her?” Then immediately regretted it as that was probably too much too fast. So much for cautious.

Mike glanced over the top of his menu clearly debating how much to reveal. His dark eyes were steady with internal conflict. “Maybe? She’s a knockout that’s for sure. So how was dinner last night? Any new news?”

He nodded still wanting to push the subject further but he had the job of leaving hints about his own fake dating life. He considered how to do this then a crazy idea came to him.

Without meeting Mike’s eyes, Eddie started by saying, “Mike...I think I am gay.” He couldn’t believe he just said those words aloud.

A gasp and smile came from Mike’s lips, “Oh wow! I…” He was completely thrown for what to say. “Thank you for sharing that. How do you feel?”

“A little sick to be honest.” Eddie groaned. He should not have done that. It was a mistake. Suddenly, his breathing picked up in a telltale sign of a panic attack emerging.

“Hey, hey…that’s ok.” Mike reassured him gently, he reached forward to pat Eddie’s hand comfortingly.

“I told Richie too.” Eddie gasped out, breathing evening back out with his friend’s kindness. Silence ensued as Mike clearly tried to control his facial expressions. This was Eddie’s chance, he gulped heavily. “I’m happy Richie knows.”

Mike hesitated then said, “Oh yeah?”

Eddie nodded, “Ya know, because he’s...he’s Richie.” He’s my person. But Eddie didn’t want to say that out loud and offend Mike, someone just as important. “I don’t know how I am going to tell Ben and Bev when they JUST told Richie and me about this ‘Have to take a date to their wedding’ deal.” Eddie bit the bottom of his lip. “Thanks for not warning me by the way.” He said sarcastically, removing his hand from underneath Mike’s.

Mike opened his mouth to defend himself but the waitress swooped in to grab their food and drink orders. She gave Eddie a wink when he asked for his meal, which reddened his cheeks a bit in embarrassment. People flirting with him always made him uncomfortable. Except with Richie, he was the only person Eddie could laugh off the flirting easily. Most likely from years of dealing with it.

After she walked away, Mike turned to Eddie with a determined expression, “You had to know they would ask something like this of you. Stanley’s wedding was bad enough then Bill’s, you both need someone to rein you in.”

A spark of rage ignited within Eddie, he was always easily angered when pushed. “Those were rough fucking times for me! And last year was hard as fuck on Richie with the death of his dad. You should understand of all people.”

Mike’s lips pursed and he spoke very slowly, “I do understand, Eddie. But this day is about Beverly and Ben. They get to ask whatever the fuck they want from any of us.”

“It’s embarrassing, Mike.” Eddie’s voice was rising in pitch and volume as a familiar panic started to set in. “Forcing me to get a date and, in turn, now I have to come out to them to explain why the person I am bringing will be a guy. It wasn’t fair of them to put me and Richie on the spot like that! You knew! You should have said something.” As all of this rolled out of Eddie’s mouth, a crazy dawning hit him. He might actually...be...no...he can’t be. Can he?

Mike listened carefully before sighing loudly. He looked away from Eddie then back at him. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

Eddie nodded. “That’s all I wanted to hear.”

They got interrupted by the waitress coming with their food and drinks. The meals smelled incredible but neither of them touched their food. Mike clearly wanted to say more from the tense way his jaw twitched.

“I really didn’t think about it, Eddie. I’m sorry you were put in that position.” Mike gave the saddest expression that made his tired face look even more burdened.

Eddie was never able to stay mad at his friends for long. “You apologized. Good enough for me.” And almost as a sign of peace, Eddie reached over and took a spoonful of Mike’s Pad Thai. “So tell me about the library girl.”

Mike beamed at him. “Her name is Carole Danners…”

Eddie marched forward like a soldier ready for war. He got to the door of Richie’s apartment and knocked. There was a thump and yell from inside. Richie must have been napping then fell off the couch. Which made sense since he worked the night shift at the Radio station and did standup many nights.

Eddie was losing his resolve with every passing second. It was taking far too long for Richie to answer. His feet started carrying him away from the stoop then the door flung open.

Richie’s hair was messy, sticking out everywhere. Eddie was annoyed at how his cheeks warmed seeing Richie shirtless and wearing only boxers.

Now, he isn’t blind or an idiot, Eddie knows Richie is really good looking. He’s known the guy through braces, the growth spurt, his skin clearing and the mercy of puberty turning him into a beautiful man. Richie works out to keep fit for industry standards, he has a soft stomach from still eating junk and too much beer, his eyes are ocean blue behind stylish glasses, jaw defined, and overall unfair attractiveness.

Richie leaned on the doorframe with a smirk. “You going to stand there and drool over my sexiness or come inside?”

Eddie frowned, shoved past him and into the apartment. “I wasn’t drooling you turd. And you aren’t sexy, you’re a nerd.”

“So what do I owe the pleasure of your company, besides the obvious of enjoying your company always.” Richie plopped down on his couch and patted the seat next to him. Except Eddie didn’t feel like sitting yet. He went over to the record that was playing a Queen song. Richie always had music playing, he could barely go 30 minutes without some kind of sound surrounding him. It was particularly bad in school when he would finish tests quickly then bring out his headphones to try listening to something. Teachers hated it.

“I want to go as each others’ dates for the wedding.” He heard Richie get up from the couch, then a hand came on his shoulder to turn him around. Those blue eyes searched his own greyish-brown ones for a minute. The scrutiny made Eddie feel exposed, so he shrugged him off changing the record to a song by Aretha Franklin. “I’m serious. Whatever it takes for us to go together, I will do it.”

This seemed enough for Richie. “Fuck yes! This will be so fun.”

“It won’t be fun to lie.” Eddie groaned.

Richie ignored this as he said, “We need to plan. It has to be convincing. Some of our friends may not believe us.”

“I told Mike I am gay.” Eddie blurted out. Richie’s eyes widened in shock, which looked huge behind his thick glasses. His big mouth opened in a dumb gaped way, “And he fucking believed me which I feel says something about me that I am not sure I want to tackle at the moment.”

“Oh shit,” Richie laughed and gave an air of completely impressed. “No, you fucking didn’t!”

“Yeah, I fucking DID. He sat there and was proud of me.” Eddie paused. “Richie, do I give off gay vibes?”

“Er…” Richie shifted from one foot to the other, while rubbing the back of his neck. “How should I know?”

“Bowers used to call us faggots all the time…”

“Eds, that was just one of the few words in Bowers’ vocabulary. You can’t possibly take it seriously.”

Eddie studied Richie for a second longer. “You're probably right. I’m overthinking this.”

“Definitely. No more thinking.”

“You do enough lack of thinking for both of us," Eddie stated, to which Richie barked out a laugh. "Ok. What do we do?”

Richie frowned in confusion, “What do we do what?”

“About pretending to date!” Eddie felt small and vulnerable. This situation was not ideal for him, either of them. He couldn’t put his finger on exactly why so many hang-ups were emerging, him and Richie messed with their friends all the time. This felt different, more dangerous, disrespectful maybe or...too real perhaps.

Richie must’ve sensed Eddie was in his head as he slung a long arm around his shoulders leading them to the couch.

“So, first we have to pretend to date,” Richie informed him. This reminder made Eddie grimace. Going as wedding dates was one thing but actively dating would be a challenge. “It’s the only way to convince them it’s genuine and not a trick.”

“Dating to go to one wedding together is risky, Rich. What if you find someone you are actually interested in?”

“Eds, you know my track record is all over the place. I’ve never held a girlfriend for more than a couple of months.”

“You dated Sandy for 3 years and lived with her for 2 and a half.” Eddie stated bitterly.

“Right, blocked Sandy out,” said Richie, obviously lying. He rarely ever brought her up and never talked about why they broke up. Eddie always figured she thought Richie wasn’t mature enough. Whenever the subject of marriage came up, he used to make a joke about them being too young or that she wouldn’t want to marry him. Until one day she stopped him in front of everyone and said she did want to get married so what did he have to say about that. They broke up the next day. Eddie never told Richie he was happy about that break up because he knew it wouldn’t go over well, but Sandy always tried to change Richie. To do that to the most immovable force in Eddie’s life was unforgivable in his book. “Anyway, don’t worry about me. But if you want to date someone within the next year, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

Eddie shook his head aggressively, “Definitely not up to actually dating someone.”

Richie placed his hand over his heart. “Hurtful.”

“Asshole.” Eddie grumbled and poked Richie’s forehead hard.

He rubbed the spot but smiled fondly. “I’ll be your practice subject for your future soulmate.” The sentiment didn’t reach Richie’s eyes. Probably because Richie doesn’t believe in soulmates or something.

“Alright,” Eddie took a deep breath, “Should we make rules?”

Richie ran a hand through his hair making it stick up more. “Like what?”

He fidgeted uncomfortably on the couch, he toed off his shoes, then leaned back bringing his feet up. “Like ‘If we start developing feelings, we end it.’.”

He couldn’t be sure but he swore Richie looked at his lips before saying, “What makes you think we will develop feelings for each other?”

Eddie stared at the small burn in Richie’s couch instead of his eyes. To this day, Beverly has never admitted that the burn is from her leaving a lit cigarette down for too long. Everyone convinced Richie he burned his own couch when drunk and trying to light up a cig. The lie has been going on since college, far too long, so none of the losers can ever tell him. It’s one of the only secrets Eddie keeps from Richie.

He decided to ignore Richie's question saying, "You make up a rule now."

"Er..." Richie thought for a little bit then, "‘Kissing in public to prove it is fine, but not in private’?"

"AND NO TONGUE!" Eddie insisted. "I used to hate when Myra wanted to french kiss. She of all people should know how many germs are in a mouth. More than a toilet!"

"Ya really had a rockin' affair there with Myra the hydra. Didn't ya, Eds." Richie was smirking.

“Also, ‘We cannot tell anyone or any of the losers no matter what’.” said Eddie with a bit of warning tone thrown into his voice.

“I’d be more worried about YOU not being able to tell anyone.” Richie lightly hit Eddie’s leg. “You’re the one who can’t keep a secret for shit.”

“I haven’t told a soul that you were my first kiss at 11!” Eddie argued.

“Yeah, cause it’s embarrassing as fuck. Actually, we can have that be an anecdote now!” Richie said excitedly. “Thank god, that secret was fucking eating me alive.”

Eddie laughed a belly-busting laugh. Richie had this way about him, he could diffuse the most awkward situations. Deciding to do this was about as awkward as it could get with them. When Eddie’s laughter subsided, he asked, “So how did we start dating? This is also weird because it’s going from secret dating to dating. We will need solid stories.”

Richie leaned back on the couch and thought about it for a bit. “Ok. I got it. We can literally blame it on Beverly and Ben. They forced us to bring dates, you come out of the closet to everyone which in turn gets me thinking differently about you. So I make a move and…”

“Why do you get to make the first move? And why do I have to come out of the closet to everyone?!”

“I’m more ambitious than you and you keep fewer secrets, so you have to come out first. Also, you already fake came out to Mike, so the rest should be easy.”

“But I’m bolder in my actions!” Eddie surprised himself with that one. But he was getting to know himself better lately, and one of the things he prided in was taking action when necessary. “Case in point, coming out to people, so I could’ve made the first move!”

“Fine. How about, we both drank too much one night and started making out but have no idea who kissed who first because we both just went at it. Sound good?”

“Yes,” Eddie nodded. “And...um...we didn’t want to tell anyone because we had no idea if it was a one-time thing or like something real.”

Richie bounced a little in his seat enjoying the storytelling. “AND! We didn’t want to ruin the friend dynamic without being sure it worked.”

Eddie’s stomach felt queasy talking about this. He wanted to be excited like Richie, usually, when they schemed he was all in, but this time he wanted to vomit. The stakes were so high. “Perfect. Alright, let's decide who finds out first.”

“Bill should catch us,” Richie suggested. “Everyone will believe him. Also, the look on his dumb face will be beyond fucking worth it.”

“Don’t call Bill dumb, Richie.” Eddie chastised. Richie rolled his eyes, which he let slide. “I agree about him catching us though. He’s most likely to confront the situation too. Ben, Mike, and even Beverly might keep it to themselves.”

“In general, we should drop hints like ‘I think I like someone but I don’t want to say who’ or ‘I’m hooking up with this cutie who has an ass you can slap day and ni…’”

Eddie smacked the side of Richie’s face with his foot, knocking off his glasses, “No jokes about my ass!” Richie hit him in the chest because he couldn’t see Eddie properly. Eddie launched himself toward Richie sitting on his stomach, knocking the air out of him. Eddie grabbed a couch pillow shoving it harshly in Richie’s face. He tried to fling Eddie off but couldn’t get a proper grip on him. He stopped struggling and tapped Eddie’s leg asking to be free.

Eddie paused realizing one flaw in the plan. He removed the pillow, hyper-aware of Richie’s hand still on his thigh but he should probably get used to the touching. “There is only one person I’m super worried about believing us.”

Their eyes met ominously as they said at the same time, “Stanley.”

___________

Notes:

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#reddie #fake dating au #shannon writes #i am a loser #the losers club #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #mike hanlon #president of the losers club #it fandom #it fanfiction #cursing #gay #Why Can't This Be Love #WCTBL

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mangolassipdf · 4 years ago

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the way I fucking love eddie kaspbrak more than anyone else <3

#eddie kaspbrak #id do anything for him #president of the deserved better club #losers club #it chapter one #it chapter two

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dollarstoreartsupplies · 2 years ago

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Fem-Losers Club Band Au

I’ve slowly come to accept that I shall never, ever, be able to write a losers club band au no matter how hard I want to so unfortunately for you I’m providing you.... headcanons

Eddie:

Eddie is the drummer. We’re getting that out of the way now. I’m accepting no arguments on this one!! Not one!! She’s very full of pent up rage and I think once she hits her breaking point with her mom she decides to do the biggest and most blatant fuck you she can which is loudly and aggressively hitting things with sticks! I think she deserves it!

She probably also can play guitar and bass a little if she needs to but they aren’t her main thing! She is the sort of manic-in-a-hot-way drummer who is much much tinier than people are expecting her to be because she’s always sitting down and it’s great!!!

Richie’s Homosexual about it!!!

She cannot sing, though, I’m the president of the Eddie Kaspbrak is tone deaf and knows it committee, sorry babes.

People think she’s a little mean for sure because she can never do after show or spontaneous meet and greet stuff, her anxiety is just really bad after getting so keyed up on stage so if she runs into fans she’s really snappy but every interview they do she’s just very softly chaotic and if it’s planned unrelated to preforming meet and greet she really does like meeting people! She just gets overwhelmed and thats okay!

Stan:

Stan’s got keyboard vibes for sure.

They probably also do backup vocals because as opposed to Eddie, I’m a strong supporter of the Stan Can Sing club.

But mostly she’s very quiet and sort of just vibes on the keys and people are,,, deeply in love with that.

She gets a lot of tweets about how their underrated but it happens enough where they definitely are not underrated at this point.

She also is probably the closest thing the losers have to like a band manager? They are 100% the only one anyone trusts to deal with finances and booking gigs because Stan is Scary and they will guarantee they get paid no matter what. (They got stiffed one time at some seedy venue and she has not forgotten, honestly the owners should be scared.)

They also definitely have some of those iCarly noise remote esque sounds loaded up on her keyboard but they only use them to fuck with Richie on stage.

I also feel like she plays some out of pocket shit like the clarinet. It’s not often but theres always the chance for a little woodwind surprise wherever they go.

Richie:

Speaking of Richie, which I’ve done a lot so far, she can literally play anything.

She’s adhd-autistic power combo and music is her Special Interest and she’s way too powerful.

Like, for sure there are concerts where one or more of the losers is sick and she’s covering a different instrument every song, drums? Got it. bass? for sure. banjo? why the fuck not. recorder? you goddamn bet. keys? she’s probably trained classically because her parents thought it would help get her energy out as a child and were wrong!

I think her main instrument is guitar though. On stage it’s usually electric, but theres definitely some tracks or videos on their YouTube where she does acoustic.

Because she plays so many instruments though I think she writes a lot of the music in their songs, but not lyrics.

She and Bev split the lead singer role! She’s a little less confident in her voice than she should be, or then like... anyone would think she would be, so she’s happy to let Bev take the lead but none of the losers are letting her totally shrink into the background.

She also started their social media accounts and generally runs them, but she has never once successfully advertised anything, she’s just full on Bantering and TikToking 24/7 which does get them, to be fair, 80% of their listeners.

Fan favorite for sure because she’s usually the first band member people know about but because of that sometimes people are... gross about it.

She’s musical theatre trained vocally which means her belt is insanely high and wild and when the losers can actually convince her to break it out it’s all anyone talks about for days after she does it online.

Bev:

Bev is technically the lead singer, if they had to choose one, even though she kinda splits the role with richie and there are some songs where the lead vocalist varies.

She can kind of sort of play guitar if she neeeeeds to but she really doesn’t like it much. her hands are very small. A lot of times she is just ROCKING the tambourine like there is no tomorrow and I think thats beautiful.

She does have a official, main instrument, though, and it is absolutely the fucking ukulele. There are A LOT of ukulele parts in their songs because you KNOW Bev was that bitch in middle school who made being able to play riptide their whole personality, she was quirky, she was not like other girls, and now she’s playing weird, indie, pop punk bullshit on ukulele for sold out venues. Good for her.

She’s in charge of making sure everyone doesn’t look like shit too. She mainly handles their photo shoots and everyone has to run their concert fits by Bev for approval before they get one stage.

She also designs a lot of their merchandise!

No one has ever not fallen in love with Bev after finding their music, she is besties with every lesbian on the planet.

Bill:

Bill probably covers guitar and bass when she needs to, but mostly I feel like she just plays... weird shit? Like for some reason, in my heart of hearts, I believe with my whole chest that Bill is a saxophonist. Don’t question me on it there is nothing better than a band with a saxophone line and that is BILL!! Tell me its not!!!!

She probably also plays the kazoo on at least one track, and played the marimba/xylophone in high school band which weasels its way into a lot of songs.

No one knows how she makes these instruments hot. She is not aware she is making them hot. She definitely is though.

Even though she’s not the lead singer she’s still definitely like the band ‘leader’, which confuses a lot of people just tuning in because she doesn’t sing at all (she’s pretty good at it, she’s just really insecure, the losers are working on it), but she usually takes charge with PR stuff and a lot of people mention her first when bringing them up.

She definitely is the reason they all started the band in the first place.

I am a strong believer that they’re just called The Losers because if it ain’t broke don’t fix it but I think when they were just like 17 and playing in garages and uploading their stuff to Spotify they probably called themselves like ‘Bill and the losers club’ or something like that.

She also definitely has a hand in writing a lot of their songs both lyrically and musically!

Ben:

Ben plays bass. Fight me on it but I’ll win. She plays bass! It just fits her personality!

She’s supportive and important even if you forget she’s there a lot of the time and if anyone paid more than the minimal amount of attention to her she’d die.

I think she honestly didn’t even start out wanting to be in the band at all actually? I think she started as their song writer mostly, and she’d just record parts for demos, but she was very very fondly bullied out of her comfort zone and into the actual band.

While Stan is called the underrated fave ben IS the underrated fave, and she’s got a very small but deeply devoted fanbase.

I’m also a big believer that Ben is a very, very good singer, but in a lovely country singer specific way, and Richie posts a video on their TikTok or something of her singing along to Dolly in the car or something and it sort of explodes. theres a whole twitter campaign to get ben to lead sing on an album and everything and Ben wants to murder Richie. like genuinely she is distressed.

they release all the demo tracks she sings on to appease the masses but it’s super super rare to get her to sing anything live and takes the losers like ten to twelve business days and all the stars to align to get her to actually do it.

(She does do it easily like... once exclusively to make Bev all flustered because country singing ben makes Bev very gay and I think thats beautiful. Gimme a Bev thats swoons just as hard over ben I DARE you.)

Mike:

Mike is main back up vocals for sure, and she is just... universally beloved.

She is up there vibing no matter what and they have a couple songs she takes lead vocals in and it’s genuinely the best thing in the world. People are obsessed, I’m obsessed, it’s great.

I think she prefers being back up though. She can have a lot more fun that way while hyping up her friends and thats honestly why she did this in the first place!!

She’s got lil dances for a lot of the songs she makes everyone do with her for most of the songs.

She switches instruments between bass and guitar, based on whats needed more in songs, and usually if theres acoustic in a live performance she’s gonna take it over, and Richie will just play the second part if they need two.

Mike has the vibe of making every performance feel like a jam session with your best friends late at night in someone’s basement and it’s incredible and also means she is single handedly responsible for so many para-social relationships.

She also is in charge of social media with Richie but while Richie is just drawing in listeners with the powers of goofs Mike is in charge of like... making sure people know when they’re going on tour,,,, when a new album drops,,, when they’ve got new merch. Her and Stan are holding this mess together.

Like bill she also has a kazoo in her pocket at all concerts but unlike bill she only uses it for evil.

Anyway they’re all in love with each other and everyone is in love with them goodnight

#losers club band au #fem losers club #hey I care about them deeply #fem Eddie kaspbrak #she/they stan uris #fem richie tozier #beverly marsh #fem bill denbrough #fem ben hanscom #fem mike hanlon

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l8rhader · 3 years ago

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For this week's Fic Back Friday, here's You'll Be Mine And I'll Be Yours, in which Richie Tozier and Eddie Kaspbrak fight like an old married couple through the ages.

He woke with a start, sweat-dampened clothes clinging to his panting frame. “Richie!” He looked around the room. The hotel room. “What the fuck?” he asked, trying to pinpoint the low voices. The alarm clock on the dresser blinked 7:29 am. The TV’s bright picture provided more light than the sun peeking through the windows. The TV. That was the source of the voices.

The morning news anchor in his pale grey suit with ashy blond curls reminded Eddie of someone, but it didn’t much matter. His voice was all Eddie could focus on. “Memorial services for 40th President of the United States Ronald Reagan continue in Washington D.C. over a month following his passing due to complications regarding his 10 year battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. His legacy includes…”

“The deaths of over a half a million people in the US, and like half of them gay men. The motherfucker,” he supplied, talking over whatever idle platitudes the man was going to spew. He called out to the bathroom. “Hey, Richie, did you see-”

No. No, of course, he didn’t see. Richie wasn’t there. Richie was home, alone, and probably worried sick.

“Fuck,” Eddie thought, “Fuck. I gotta get home.” He grabbed his car keys off of the nightstand and slipped his shoes back on, tying his hoodie around his waist, darting out of the room like a bat out of hell.

#fic back Friday #ao3commentoftheday #reddie #richie tozier x eddie kaspbrak #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #it chapter 1 #it chapter 2 #stephen king's it

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ifduckislordthenheavenisapond · 3 years ago

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Which of the Hatchetverse characters corresponds to each loser from the losers club

Bill Denbrough - Ethan Greene

Natural born leader, Would definitely go to the lengths Bill did if Hannah got taken by Pennywise

Beverly Marsh- Becky Barnes

A badass who would do anything to help the ones she loves. The token ginger

Ben Hanscom- Duke Keane

Definingly was at his worst 20 years ago. Hopelessly in love with the token ginger

Richie Tozier- Ted Spankofski

He’s the only one who thinks he’s funny. Everyone else hates the shit out of him but is too nice to say so

Mike Hanlon- Bill Woodward

Is one of the most loyal people you know. Would never talk shit about you

Stanley Uris- Howard Goodman

Definitely the most reclusive one in the room and DEFINITLY closeted

Eddie Kaspbrak- Jon’s Military's guy from Monsters and Men

President Goodman FOR SURE had a crush on him Idk how to prove it to y’all but it’s true

#shitpost #it #nightmare time #stephen king #starkid #hatchetfield #maybe a new series?

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softest-cinnamon-roll · 5 years ago

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reddie + 50 💕💕💕

50. There’s a statue of our school’s founder in the quad on campus and as a joke, I’ve been dressing them up in sweaters and dresses and you’re the journalist determined to find this prankster.

* * * * *

Eddie adjusted the strap of his bag on his shoulder as he walked onto Yale’s Campus after Winter Break. After spending two weeks with his mother, he couldn’t wait to get back into his regular routine and meet up with his friends. Eddie had forgotten just how much of a pain she was, and even though New Haven, Connetticut wasn’t that far from Derry, Maine it was still far enough for him.

“Eddie! You’re back!” The voice of his close friend Mike called from behind him. Eddie turned around just as MIke reached him, pulling him into a tight hug. “Happy New Year, did you have a nice Winter Break?” Mike’s smile was unusually large, which screamed to Eddie that something exciting had happened to Mike over the two weeks they were seperated.

He shrugged, stepping back as they both fell into step with one another, walking further into the campus. “It was alright, mom was her usual self and I spent most of it in my room, writing.” He cocked his head to the side. “What about you? You’re smiling very brightly right now, did something happen?”

Mike blushed and that basically confirmed it to Eddie, “Okay, fine. I keep forgetting that you have an eye for that kind of thing. Nothing gets past Eddie Kaspbrak.” He bit down on his lip. “So you know how I decided to stay on campus this year, as my parents were on that couples cruise?” Eddie nodded his head. “Well, Stan Uris, from my History class also stayed behind and we...got talking. We went on a few dates and uh, now we’re dating.”

“Mike, that’s amazing!” Eddie grinned, pulling his friend into another tight hug. Eddie knew Stan Uris, he was in his English Lit class and he was presentable, kind and very friendly. He was also friends with Yale’s resident ‘jokester’, Richie Tozier. Richie Tozier lived in the same dorm block as Eddie, and ever since they met had been nothing but a total flirt towards him. Yeah, he was hot, but Eddie really didn’t want to be another notch on his bedpost. “I’m so happy for you.”

They turned the corner into the main area of the campus, only to stop short as their eyes cast upon the statue of one of Yale’s Founders; Abraham Pierson. His statue was surrounded by students, which was the first weird thing since everyone avoided it, but it soon became clear why they were focusing now. The statue was wearing a dress, a pink frilly dress. Eddie blinked a few times, looking at all the students videoing the mess of their founders statue.

“Seriously? Is it just me or do you find this really disrespective?” Eddie asked Mike, feeling him nod next to him. Before he could say anything else about the matter, they were joined by Stan and none other than Richie Tozier. “Hi Stan, Richie. Good Winter Break?” Stan moved to Mike’s side immediately, while Richie inched closer to Eddie.

“I had a great time off, Eds. What about you?” Richie asked, raising an eyebrow at him and Eddie hated the way it made his stomach flutter. “What do you think of the statue? I mean you are the president of the university newspaper, I’m guessing you’re going to do your best to find the culprit?”

Eddie crossed his arms, “I’m guessing you had nothing to do with this? Considering you’re being so cool about it?” He asked and Richie broke into a wide smirk, moving closer to Eddie and he had to try his best not to blush.

“I’m not going to give away the game, Eds,” Richie whispered into his ear before pulling back and winking right at him. “You gotta put those journalist skills to good use and figure it out for yourself!” He took a step away from Eddie, that stupid smile still on his face until he turned his back to him and walked towards the student rec building.

Why did Richie make Eddie’s blood boil and at the same time want him to pull him into his arms and kiss him senseless? He let out a breath and reached into his bag, pulling out his notepad before walking through the crowd towards the statue. He looked around it, making notes of the type of dress that was used, as well as the fact that the tag was still on. It was clearly bought on the cheap, and the makeup used on the face on the statue was clearly borrowed. By the time he was done, Mike and Stan had gone and he packed up his evidence, heading inside to begin putting his story together.

A few weeks passed and every few days, Eddie would update the paper with new evidence in regards to the prankster who was violating the Founders Statue. The dress wasn’t just a one off, but in fact something that happened every night. Eddie tried to catch the culprit in the act, but they would change up their schedule so he was always too late by the time he arrived. However, Eddie was pretty confident that he knew who the perpetrator was.

Richie. It was Richie.

He figured it out the day he stopped by at Stan and Richie’s apartment to see Mike. Richie had red spray paint sitting on the counter as well as a feather boa and the following morning the statue was covered in red spray paint and adorning a feather boa on its head. Yet, Eddie wasn’t ready to expose him yet, as the whole running around each other was starting to be way too much fun.

“Eds, hey wait up!” Richie called out to him as he walked to his final class of the day. It was Friday and Eddie was looking forward to heading back to his dorm and getting into his pyjamas. He turned around, a rare smile on his face when he was chatting with Richie. “Hey, what are you doing tonight?”

That took Eddie by surprise and he raised his eyebrows, “Uh, I don’t have any plans...why?” He asked, holding his books closer to his chest. His heart was racing a little faster than it was a minute ago, and he was smiling just a little wider.

Richie ran a hand through his hair, a nervous smile on his face, something that Eddie had never seen in relation to Richie before. “I was wondering, and you have every right to say no, but would you want to maybe get dinner with me tonight?” He was looking down at the ground until he had finished the question and he looked up to meet Eddie’s eyes, hopeful.

“You want to take me out to dinner?” Eddie asked, tilting his head to the side as he stepped a little closer to Richie. He was hoping that it would make Richie a little less nervous and he smiled softly as Richie nodded his head. “Sure, pick me up at seven.”

The expression on Richie’s face changed from nervous to elated, “Really? You want to go out with me tonight? At seven?” He moved his hand down, brushing his fingers against Eddie’s softly. It took Eddie by surprise, as he had never seen Richie be so...careful around him before. It was cute and endearing if Eddie had to be honest. In fact, it only made Eddie want to kiss Richie all the more.

He smirked and nodded his head, stepping completely into Richie’s space and setting his hands on his shoulders. Richie was significantly taller than Eddie, therefore he had to push up on his toes so they were face to face. “You better not be late, Tozier.” He bit down on his lip before pulling out one of Richie’s moves, moving his lips to his ear. “Oh, and I know it was you vandalising the statue.”

Richie let out a squeaky sound, leaning back a little with worry in his eyes. “Are you-”

“Just don’t be late,” Eddie grinned, leaning up and pressing a kiss to Richie’s cheek before stepping back and walking towards his final class of the day.

His Friday was suddenly looking a little more exciting.

* * * * *

Tags permanently

@bi-bi-richie @bovaque @derrylosers @eds-trashmouth @eduardoandale @girasol-eddie @halfway-happy353 @inthebreadbinwrites @isaacslaheys @its-stranger-than-you-think @jem-carstairs-is-perfection @lifesucksheres20bucks @loserslibrary @losers-gotta-stick-together @madidraw @mars-14 @marsisaplanetyall @moonlightrichie @njess04 @no-she-wasnt-reddie @oldguybones @overcastedhills @pink-psychic @purplepoisonedgem @rebecca-the-queen @reddie-to-cryy @reddiesetandgo @richietoaster @richietoizer @roobarrtrashmouth @rreddies @s-onora @s-s-georgie @sedanleystanley @sloppybitchreddie @spirited-marvel @stellarbisexual @studpuffin @that-weird-girls-blog @thegoshdiddlydangdoor @thejadeazalea @thorn-harvester-ven @tinyarmedtrex @tozier-boy @tozierking @toziesque @trashmouthtozierr @twoidiotsinl0ve @violetreddie @wilding-throught-thehallways @xandertheundead

#reddie #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #writing tag

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alwaysahiccupandastrid · 4 years ago

Text

The Odds are Never in Your Favor - Information and Characters

From the Treaty of Treason:

In penance for their uprising, each district shall offer up a male and female between the ages of 12 and 18 at a public “Reaping”. These tributes shall be delivered to the custody of The Capitol, and then transferred to a public arena where they will Fight to the Death, until a lone victor remains. Henceforth and forevermore this pageant shall be known as The Hunger Games.

Some things to know about the AU:

This is a Reddie Social Media AU; the story is told via text messages, twitter, etc. As aforementioned, the main pairing is Richie/Eddie, though there are other side pairings, and all of the Losers are featured prominently.

This AU is NOT canon with Suzanne Collins’ series, but rather in a universe of its own. As such, the rules/history are slightly different.

Side characters from Collins’ work either make appearances or are mentioned, such as Finnick Odair, Haymitch Abernathy and Mags Flanagan. There’s no exact number Hunger Games given, because I couldn’t be bothered working out much beyond the Losers winning back to back, and because this isn’t canon to Collins’ work anyway beyond using a few characters.

Coriolanus Snow is still President of Panem; there’s rumors of potential uprising/rebellion, which makes him uneasy and as such he is going to be taking certain steps in order to reassert his control of Panem.

For the purpose of this AU, the Losers aren’t the same ages, though they’re still friends and within the same age range: all of them are 17-19. It was impossible to make them any younger because otherwise there was no way all of them had won even back to back games. The only other way would have been to have Bill/Stan/Bev all win their games at like age 12, which wouldn’t be realistic - possible but not likely.

Similarly, the Losers are not all from the same district (I’ll go into their districts in a minute) - again, it would have seemed unlikely that the same district would win five or six years in a row, especially if the district wasn’t a Career District. In Collins’ series, the Districts don’t really interact with one another, except for those who are part of the games obviously - in this AU, the rules are more lax regarding this, and it’s possible for people to visit other Districts, especially those within close range of each other.

In this AU, the Losers all knew each other previously and met via one another; as I said, for this AU, inter-District friendships/relationships are more lax and travelling is allowed. Fill in the gaps however you want.

Because the characters are age 16-19, there will NOT be any sexual content. Some of the characters are 18/19 or even older, but because I’m using the younger Losers, it’s strictly PG-13. There may be jokes or references, but nothing anymore explicit than what typical teenagers may say from time to time (and we’ve got to remember that Richie has a Trashmouth, so there’s that too)

Side Note: The reason I have decided to use the child!Losers and not the adult ones is because a) THG is 12-18 year olds, and b) the whole idea of the horror of THG is the fact that literal children are being forced to fight to the death. Using the teenage cast is therefore the obvious choice in order to convey the brutality of it.

This goes without saying really, but this AU will contain violence and child death - the Hunger Games is a competition where children aged 12-18 compete and kill one another. As such, there’ll be mostly descriptions of violence/gore, and on the rare occasion a possible photo of a horror encountered in the games. Basically, anything that’s typical in THG series, it’s happening here.

What are “The Hunger Games”?

Every year, one male and one female from the twelve districts, all between the ages of twelve and eighteen, are selected via a “Reaping” to participate in a compulsory televised battle royale death match called The Hunger Games.

A Reaping takes place in every district before each Hunger Games, where the tributes of the upcoming Games are chosen. Each district's escort randomly chooses the name of one male and one female tribute from two separate glass balls. Those picked are then the official tributes for the upcoming Games.

To be qualified for a reaping, one must be at least 12 years old. Once of age, a potential-tribute's name is entered into the reaping one time. The entries are cumulative, so when a possible tribute is thirteen, their name is added one more time. This continues until age 18, when a potential-tribute's name is entered 7 times, or more if they apply for tesserae.

Tessera (plural: tesserae) is a form of voluntary food rationing, offered by the government of Panem to people in the districts. If a family is struggling for food, children between the ages of 12 and 18 - those eligible to participate in the Hunger Games - can sign up for tesserae. A single tessera is worth one year's supply of grain and oil for a single person, collected on a monthly basis. The child may also claim further tesserae for as many members of their family as needed.

While tesserae is vital to many families in the districts, it comes at a heavy price: In exchange for this extra food, the child's name will be added to the reaping balls an additional time for every tessera claimed that year. These entries are also cumulative, so if tesserae must be claimed year after year, the chances of being reaped can increase dramatically, depending on the number of people that must be fed.

The Characters

Richie Tozier (District 3)

17 years old

Best friends with Stanley Uris, who won the Games four years ago

His parents, while not incredibly wealthy, have enough that it means he doesn’t have to sign up for tesserae every year. As such, his name is only in the bowl a total of six times.

He deals with discomfort and fear by making inappropriate jokes/comments, which people either find charming or irritating (depending on who you ask)

Hopes that someday he can maybe be an entertainer like Caesar Flickerman - Flickerman’s interviews are the only bright spot of being forced to watch the Games each year

Has a crush on Eddie but won’t admit it

Eddie Kaspbrak (District 4)

17 years old

Lives with his mother, Sonia, and he doesn’t know that she’s been putting him in for even more tesserae than he thought

He can’t wait to leave District 4; it’s a Career District, and he doesn’t fit in - he hopes that he can move one day, preferably to District 3 where Richie is

His mom wouldn’t let him train - any training or skills he has have been developed behind her back and away from her, in secret.

Because he’s from District 4, he’s an extremely good swimmer, like the rest of his District - and he actually enjoys it

He hates watching the Games every year, even before he was eligible to be reaped - it’s his worst nightmare to be picked

Has a crush on Richie but won’t admit it

Bill Denbrough (District 6)

19 years old

Was the first of the Losers to win the Games; was reaped when he was only 13, and during training he acted inconspicuous/weak so as to not attract attention, then hid for the majority of his Games. He won by escaping up a tree from a Mutt attack.

Has a younger brother, Georgie, who is now 9 - his biggest fear is that Georgie will be reaped when he’s 12-18.

Because he was the first of the group to win, he’s unofficially the leader and helps the others with mentoring duties since he has the most experience

Is dating Audra Phillips, who he mentored during her Games. He still wonders if she faked her crush on him during her Games in order to get Capitol sympathy.

Stanley “Stan” Uris (District 3)

19 years old

Is best friends with Richie Tozier, though he pretends to find him annoying - that’s just their dynamic

He won his games aged 14; his arena had electrical currents/circuit traps scattered, and he was able to avoid them due to his knowledge of technology from growing up in District 3. In the last days of his Games, he used his knowledge to bait the remaining few tributes into the traps so they’d be electrocuted

Is dating Patricia “Patty” Blum, and fears that she’ll be reaped (and that he’ll have to mentor her). He’s hoping that once she’s no longer eligible to be reaped for the Games, he can ask her to marry him someday.

Beverly Marsh (District 8)

18 years old

Survived her Games aged 14 in a winter wasteland arena by grabbing a bag with a thermal sleeping bag and coat during the Bloodbath, then used her knowledge of textiles to scavenge and create shelter/line her clothes to keep warm. Killed one tribute right at the end when she was attacked, but for the most part survived just by outlasting the cold.

Has feelings for Ben Hanscom but it’s complicated...really complicated

Wants to be a fashion designer someday - since District 8 deals with textiles, she already has pre-existing knowledge and skill

Ben Hanscom (District 5)

18 years old

Won his Games aged 15; the Careers didn’t consider him a threat due to his size, and so he was mostly left alone. He survived by scavenging and keeping on the move, and when food in the arena became restricted by gamemakers, he lasted the longest without food.

Has taken up poetry in his time since winning the Games in order to have something to focus on

Has a crush on Beverly Marsh and is trying to find a way to tell her of his feelings - though he’s also nervous about admitting it to her

Mike Hanlon (District 11)

18 years old

Won the Games last year aged 17; survived by scavenging, hiding and hunting for food, and left snares to trap the other tributes to weaken them. Only killed last few tributes, a Career pack, in self-defense.

The year he was Reaped, his name was in the bowl forty times due to the tesserae he had to sign up for in order to feed his family.

Because he’s the freshest out of his Games, he’s still dealing with survivor’s guilt - the last thing on his mind is relationships right now

This is his first year mentoring, and he’s terrified he’ll mess up - he doesn’t want to feel responsible for the death of more people

Other Characters

Patricia “Patty” Blum (District 3)

18 years old

Is dating Stanley “Stan” Uris and is very supportive of him; she understands how difficult mentoring is and knows that he did what he had to to survive during the Games

Is good friends with Richie Tozier - her, Stan and Richie are often seen hanging out in District 3 together

Wants to be a teacher someday

She’s honestly very kind and sweet, but she’s tougher than she looks - you have to be when you grow up in this world.

Audra Phillips (District 6)

18 years old

Won her Games the year after Beverly, aged 15; she survived by getting a surplus of sponsors who sent her everything she needed - food, water, medicine etc. Killed two people - one in revenge after they killed her alliance partner, one in a final showdown that she barely won and that left her bloody, bruised and beaten

Is literally a darling of the Capitol; she knows how to play the game and use their attention to her advantage. She doesn’t like it, but she does what she needs to in order to survive.

Is dating fellow Mentor/Victor Bill Denbrough; he mentored her during her Games, and she had a crush on him. This actually worked in her advantage during her Games - the Capitol love a good love story, and they went nuts when she whispered Bill’s name/wished aloud that she could see him

Insiders/News Pages

The two key accounts to follow during the Games? The official Hunger Games Updates account, of course, and Caesar Flickerman. You truly do not need to follow anyone else when it comes to updates, gossip and entertainment!

Official Hunger Games account - live updates on Reapings, parades, training scores, interviews, tribute casualties and what’s going on in the arena. Also gives updates on Victor Tours and mentor activity. This account is very professional and mostly-unbiased.

Caesar Flickerman - Caesar’s account. Tries to be unbiased, but this is all his own opinion, so you might see a slight focus on certain tributes or alliances. Caesar knows all the gossip of the Capitol and the Games - he’s your guy to go to for the juicier, more personal stuff. This account also posts clips and transcripts of tribute interviews.

The Masterlist will be uploaded soon and linked here!

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am-amaterasu · 5 years ago

Link

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: IT - Stephen King, IT (Movies - Muschietti) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris, Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon, Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh Characters: The Losers Club (IT) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-IT Chapter Two (2019), Dead Stanley Uris, Eddie Kaspbrak Lives, Richie Tozier's Stand Up Act, Richie Tozier Comes Out, Losers Club (IT) Friendship, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Supportive Losers Club (IT), Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris Are Best Friends, Richie Tozier is a Mess, Stanley Uris Is The Best, polaroids, The Kissing Bridge (IT), Author Is Sleep Deprived, Implied/Referenced Suicide Summary:

An extract from this work:

"I mean, it’s like throwing a dinner party, and just as you’re about to write the invitation list, someone comes up to you and says “Oh, you know who we should invite? A mullet-wearing stereotypical high school bully, an old creepy pharmacist with pedo tendencies, a pyromaniac carrying spray deodorant cans in his belt loops, a bunch of elderly Jewish conservatives, the retired witch that lives down the road, a 13-year-old future drug addict, and a leper, and a possessed little Pomeranian”, and by the end of the dinner party, they decide who the President is!"

#reddie #richie trashmouth #eddie kaspbrak #the losers club #sleep deprivation #very self indulgent #read if you want #(:

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tinylilemrys · 5 years ago

Link

Rating: T

Word count: 3,407

Summary: Richie Tozier was an open book – some would call it the best thing about him, others would argue that it was the most annoying thing about him.

There were only two secrets that Richie fiercely guarded. One: he had been desperately and completely inconveniently in love with his best friend, Eddie Kaspbrak, for years now, and two: Richie liked – no, loved – playing Dungeons and Dragons.

Richie Tozier was an open book – some would call it the best thing about him, others would argue that it was the most annoying thing about him. While it was true that you were never unsure of where you stood with Richie, there was also almost nothing others would classify as too much information that Richie wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing. They knew when he was angry, they knew when he was scared shitless about his Calc test, they knew when he’d eaten food that was more than a bit past its sell-by date as a dare and all about the day of spectacular gastrotechnics that followed, they knew (in great detail) when he’d found a new supermodel that he considered attractive, they knew when he had fought with his parents, and they knew when he was feeling particularly sentimental about his group of friends.

He hadn’t meant to enjoy it as much as he did. He’d only agreed to sit on a few sessions because one of the girls from his Drama class told him it was really good way to improve his storytelling and improv skills, but after one session of being sucked up into the world that Will Jones, the Dungeon Master, had spun and being frustrated at not being able to influence the decisions the party made, Richie was hooked. He had spent all of that night creating his character and eagerly (though stealthily) handed his character’s backstory to Will at school the next day.

And that had been that. His little Gnome Cleric had been a vital part of the party for the past six months and Richie couldn’t remember what life was before he started playing.

Of course, finding excuses to duck out of plans with six other friends had proven more difficult than he initially thought it would. Though the party only met to play every second Friday, it was often when the rest of the group had made plans for a movie night or a night swim at the quarry and finding excuses to not be there was tricky. Though the excuse he’d finally settled on was guitar lessons, he could almost feel how annoyed the rest of them were each time he flaked out and though he felt bad about it, D&D had become too important to give up.

The only one who seemed to understand was Eddie, who had started tutoring to make a bit of extra cash on the same Fridays that Richie had D&D and as such was also subject to the ire of the group.

Eddie, however, had a far shorter fuse for these things than Richie did.

“Could you all just give Richie a fucking break?” he snapped one Thursday when Bill had complained about them never hanging out together anymore. “We’re in our junior year. Shit’s getting busy. You can’t accuse us of being shitty friends just because we’ve got other things going on. He’s trying his best and so am I, so back the fuck off.”

Richie had wanted to kiss him – even more so when he’d given him a shy glance afterwards to make sure he hadn’t overstepped.

Though honestly, there weren’t many times when Richie didn’t want to kiss him.

The Loser’s Club had backed off a bit after that, and it had become a routine for them to schedule their movie nights on the weeks where Richie and Eddie could make it. It had also become a routine for Eddie to come over to Richie’s place the day after the Fridays where they couldn’t hang out.

This Saturday was no different, apart from the fact that Eddie wasn’t quite himself. He’d sensed that something was wrong as soon as he opened the door, but when Eddie didn’t even fight him over which movie to watch, Richie knew for sure there was something up.

“Hey, are you okay, Eds?” asked Richie, setting down the VHS tape he was about to put on. “You seem a little down.”

“I’m fine,” said Eddie, but he chewed his bottom lip the way he always did when he was lying.

“No you’re not,” Richie replied, crossing the living room to sit next to him on the sofa. “It’s not your mom again is it?”

“No, not this time,” he replied, his face screwing up when he realised that he’d just admitted he wasn’t fine. “It’s really stupid.”

“If it’s making you this upset, it’s not stupid to me.”

Eddie looked up at him then and Richie’s heart jumped to his throat. He knew he was being reckless, that being this soft with Eddie would lead to him working it out, but he couldn’t imagine being snarky when Eddie looked so sad.

Eddie heaved a deep sigh.

“Okay, well, it’s my, uh, my babysitting.”

“You mean your tutoring?”

“Yeah, what did I say?” asked Eddie, eyes wide and cheeks flooding with colour.

“You said ‘babysitting’.”

“Fuck. Well, I meant tutoring.” He was looking down at his hands now, red-faced. “It, uh, it didn’t work out. I got let go.”

“Ah man, I’m sorry to hear that,” said Richie, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Do you maybe want to ditch the movie and go for ice-cream instead? You seem like you need sugar. My treat, since you’re broke now that you’ve lost your job.”

“Ha fucking ha,” Eddie replies, and though he rolls his eyes, he’s grinning. “You know me, I’d never say no to ice-cream.”

“Thought so,” laughed Richie.

Half an hour later, they were sitting on a patch of grass near the river, quietly eating their desserts. What he appreciated about hanging out with Eddie was that the silences between them were never awkward. He didn’t feel the need to fill the air with the sound of his voice, because it was always so comfortable between them. When Richie was with Eddie, he could just be.

“Thanks for this, Rich,” said Eddie, finishing up the last of his cone. “I needed it.”

“Anytime,” said Richie, lying back in the grass to look up at the sky now that he had finished his own. “Don’t stress about it though, alright? We can find you another kid to tutor.”

Eddie sighed and lay down next to Richie, propping himself up on his elbow to look at him.

“To tell you the truth, I wasn’t… I wasn’t actually tutoring anyone.”

Richie frowned and propped himself up on his elbows too.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I lied about the tutoring because I didn’t want you or the rest of the Losers to know what I was really doing.”

“Okay, so what were you doing?” asked Richie. “Since you telling me the truth now obviously means that you want to let me in on the big secret.”

“You swear you won’t laugh?”

“Oh, my dear Spaghetti, I can promise you a great many things, but that is not one of them.” The crease in Eddie’s brow deepened. “But I can promise you that, depending on how serious this is, I will at least try not to laugh.”

Eddie rolled his eyes.

“I suppose that’s as good as I’m going to get from you. Fine. The truth is that instead of tutoring every second Friday like I told you, ivebeeninadungeonsanddragonsgroupwithsomeoftheavguysforthepastfewmonths.”

“Jesus Christ, Kaspbrak, slow your roll,” said Richie, turning to his side to face Eddie better. “Tell me again, but slowly.”

“I’ve been in a Dungeons and Dragons group with some of the AV guys for the past few months,” Eddie repeated, his face the reddest Richie had ever seen it. Richie had been fully prepared to laugh or at least suppress a laugh, but none came. He was too astounded to hear that Eddie played D&D to do anything except stare at him. “At least I was until Steve, you know the president of the AV club? He said that because Grant and Matt can’t sort out their shit, he’s dissolving our party. That’s why I was upset earlier. And, yeah, I get that probably makes me more of a fucking loser than the rest of the other Losers, but I was really enjoying it. I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I do, but it’s been really fun. See I play this Bard who’s less of a musician and more of a stand-up comedian and I’m starting to get really good at getting into character. He’s so different to me and it was just nice to be able to stop being Eddie Kaspbrak for a few hours to be someone else, you know. And I just –“

Richie places a hand on Eddie’s arm and his words, which had been flying at a mile a minute a moment ago, suddenly falter.

“You don’t have to justify it to me,” he said, knowing he should probably take his hand back now that Eddie had calmed, but somehow not being able to work up the will to. “If you enjoy it, fuck the rest of them, right?”

And it was at that point that he totally meant to tell Eddie that he was doing the same thing with his Fridays – that the two of them had been keeping the same damn secret for half a year – but it was also at that point that he felt Eddie’s lips crash into his.

Richie’s brain shut down. Eddie, Eddie who he’d been in love with for years, was kissing him. Eddie was kissing him. But no sooner had his brain began whirring back to life than Eddie was pulling back with a look of horror.

“Oh my god, Richie, I don’t know what I was thinking, I’m so fucking sorry I–“

“Hey, Eddie,” said Richie, smiling as he slid his hand from Eddie’s shoulder to his burning cheek. “Don’t be.”

And all thoughts of dungeons or dragons or the president of the AV club left his mind as he kissed Eddie, enjoying the taste of vanilla ice-cream on the lips he’d been dreaming about for so long, enjoying the way that Eddie’s fingers began tangling through his hair, enjoying his soft laugh as they pulled apart again, and especially enjoying the euphoria rising in him at the realisation that this meant that Eddie felt the same way. He was looking at Richie shyly through his long lashes the way he often did, but now he finally knew what that look meant.

“For what it’s worth,” he said, brushing back a tendril of soft dark hair that had flopped across Eddie’s forehead, “though I totally get the appeal of wanting to be someone else for a few hours, I happen to like Eddie Kaspbrak. Like, a lot.”

“He likes you too,” Eddie replied. “Like, a lot.”

There was no way he was changing trajectory now to tell Eddie his other secret. Not when Eddie was scooting closer to wrap his arms around him, not when the two of them were lying together watching the blue sky turn from orange to pink and eventually deep blue, both the happiest they had been in years.

He later realised of course – long after Eddie finally announced that he should head home, long after the hour it had taken them to finally move after this announcement, long after trying to bring it up during the car ride home, though being unable to find the moment to – that there was no longer a good time to tell Eddie that he also played D&D, not without an unnecessarily awkward conversation.

He had missed his window and now he hoped and prayed that another would miraculously show up.

–

The next two weeks were the best of Richie’s life so far. Though he and Eddie had both agreed to keep it quiet for the time being, there were so many stolen glances, and brushes of skin and kisses that the secret felt less like a burden and more like a covert and daring mission. So far it seemed that the Losers suspected nothing, to the point that they had even gotten away with holding hands the whole way through that week’s movie night without anyone noticing.

As the two of them lived the closest to each other, they spent every moment they could at each other’s houses (though mostly at Richie’s – his parents were far more prone to knocking than Mrs Kaspbrak was). Despite all the time that they spent together, however, Richie still hadn’t found a good way of telling Eddie that he was in a D&D party. He fully acknowledged how ridiculous his situation was – he couldn’t bring himself to say it, though he also couldn’t imagine that Eddie would be too upset if he just told him and it would mean that he could potentially invite him to join their party. Their party could do with a Bard. The rest of the drama kids were too focused on exploring the tragedy of their backstories and the idea of having Eddie’s quick wit and banter at the table was a glorious one.

There was just no good fucking way to bring it up.

It was getting to the point by Thursday evening where he found himself, for the first time ever, dreading the next session. He knew he had to tell him – he wasn’t going to give Eddie a sloppy excuse – but he was already curling into a ball at the embarrassing idea of not only having to admit to Eddie that he also played D&D, but also that, for whatever reason, he had felt too awkward to talk about it until then.

Thankfully, he was saved from having to do anything when a beaming Eddie stopped by Richie’s place on his way home.

“I can’t stay – my mom’s inviting people over tonight so I have to help her set up. I just wanted to let you know that I found another group that plays D&D and I’m starting with them tomorrow. I don’t even have to change my time slot.”

“That’s great,” Richie said, pulling Eddie into a hug just as the pager in his pocket started beeping.

“Shit, that’s my mom. We’re still on for Saturday, right?”

“Always.” Richie kissed Eddie on the cheek and when it looked like he was lingering at the hope of more, Richie laughed and nudged him out the door. “Go, you dork. The last thing we need is your mom not letting you come over anymore because she thinks I’m trying to kidnap you or some bullshit.”

“Miss you already,” said Eddie and though Richie vowed he would never, ever, be one of those couples, the sentiment made his stomach somersault.

“Miss you too,” said Richie, closing the door before he said anything more cliché and sappy than that.

Richie got to Will’s house early the next night to help set up the game table and set out chairs.

“Are you alright there?” his friend asked, giving him a curious look. “You’re kinda bouncy today.”

“I have ADHD – I’m always bouncy.”

“You know what I mean,” scoffed Will. “It’s like you have an extra spring in your step or something.”

For a brief moment, Eddie’s face popped into his head and Richie couldn’t keep himself from grinning.

“I guess I’m just really looking forward to tonight’s session,” he replied and though Will still looked curious, he didn’t press the matter further.

“Oh shit, before I forget,” Will said, taking a tray of pizza rolls out the oven, “we have a new guy joining us tonight.”

It took every one of Richie’s spider-man reflexes not to drop the bowl of chips he was setting out.

“Oh yeah?” he asked, hoping his voice sounded casual and not like his blood was suddenly pounding in his ears.

“Yeah. Steve Himble from the AV club says that two of his players were giving him shit so he decided to just stop the game, but he’d invited this guy from his Biology class to join them and he feels shitty that he dissolved the party just as he was starting to really get into it. Apparently, he’s really good. He’s playing a Bard, so that should be fun.”

“Yeah,” Richie replied, not sure what else to say. Was it too late to fake being sick to avoid the situation that was rapidly hurtling towards him?

The crunch of tyres in the driveway answered that question for him.

When the rest of the party had arrived and there was no sign of Eddie, Richie began to hope against all hope that Eddie had chickened out or that he wasn’t going to show, but there was a damning knock at the door five minutes later. Eddie strolled into the room a moment later, as adorable as he always was, cheeks flushed because he was no doubt embarrassed to be the last to arrive.

“Hey, sorry I’m late,” he said as he strode towards the table. “I took a wrong turn and I got…”

His voice trailed off as his eyes locked with Richie’s and Richie, unsure of what else he could do to make the situation less awkward, waved at him.

“No worries, Eddie,” said Will. “We usually just talk bullshit for the first half an hour anyway. I take it you know Richie?”

“Yeah, we’re friends,” Eddie replied, pulling his eyes away from Richie to introduce himself to the rest of the party. When he took the seat next to Richie, Richie was certain that his heart was visibly thudding like in a Tex Avery cartoon.

“Sorry, Eds, I meant to tell you, but the moment passed on the first day and I wasn’t sure how to bring it up again without looking like a dumbass,” Richie whispered.

“The good news is that you don’t need to worry about looking like a dumbass,” Eddie replied under his breath as he set out his character sheet, notebook, and dice, “because you are one. And I’d be a lot madder at you if it wasn’t just such a fucking relief to see you here.”

He threaded his fingers through Richie’s under the table, and Richie beamed at him. The crisis had been averted.

Eddie was as good as Will said he was. It became instantly clear from the moment he opened his mouth that he was just what the party needed. His Bard was snarky, impulsive and had a witty comeback for almost everything. Richie had been right in his guess that they would role-play well together – their characters bantered back and forth seamlessly and it filled Richie with pride to see the rest of the party laughing at Eddie’s clever one-liners. It was also the best feeling in the world to glance over at the person he loved more than anyone else in the world and know that he was enjoying all of this as much as he was.

While in combat with several wyverns that had suddenly snuck up on the party, Eddie nudged Richie, pushing his notebook closer so that he could read what he had scribbled there.

Salvan is kinda based on you, just so you know.

Richie couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face, despite the twenty points of damage Lucy’s character took just then. He scrawled his reply beneath Eddie’s message, the words curving up because of the angle he was writing at.

Pips is kinda based on you too.

Eddie gave him a confused look and began writing again.

An angry little gnome cleric? I don’t get it.

Richie raised an eyebrow at him.

Think about it, babe. You’re obsessed with making the people around you better – healing – and you hold a disproportionate amount of rage for someone so small.

Eddie narrowed his eyes at Richie after reading the note, but the corners of his mouth betrayed his amusement.

Fuck you so much, Tozier. ♡

Richie’s stomach flipped at the little heart next to his name, and he smiled softly to himself as he penned his reply.

Fuck you too, Kaspbrak. ♡♡

Eddie blushed, and Richie wondered how he had gotten so lucky. For the first time in years, he officially had no secrets.

Well, he mused as he took Eddie’s hand again under the table, at least not from him.

–

@faequill

#reddie #richie x eddie #eddie x richie #reddie fanfic #reddie fic #it movie #i finally wrote the thing #whoop whoop #long post

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beepbeeprichiellc · 6 years ago

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Hey! If you could write anymore of the best friend’s brother au with Stan and Eddie as brothers I would love to read it!!!

Yes I can. Part One.

Richie had never seen someone so pissed off in his life.

Sure there was that one time he had stolen Wentworth’s keys to take Betty Ripson to make out point, which ended with the loss of his virginity but even then there was a glimmer of knowing amusement in his father’s eyes when amidst the scorning. Now though-he knew that what honest and true annoyance looked like as Stan shot him the dirtiest look ever known to man. Mrs. Uris was cooing about having someone other than Mike over, practically fawning over the fact that Stan had more than one friend-not that the woman knew that Mike wasn’t exactly Stan’s ‘friend’-and asking him all about himself. Richie was in love with this, giving him something other than Stan’s annoyance to keep his attention.

Not that Eddie was giving Mrs. Uris a run for her money.

All he was doing was sitting there, in a school hodie and the same pair of sweats that had nearly given Richie an aneurysm earlier. Looking closer Richie realized that Eddie was an angel in disguise, his features soft and tangible, his voice like bells and every time he looked in Richie’s direction the air in the trashmouths lungs vanished. This was probably apparent to everyone except the parents, giving that Stan constantly growled out his answers and Eddie smirked when he did so.

“Yeah, my dad is a dentist and my mom stays at home. Although she has become quite a master of needle point here lately.”

“A dentist, that’s pretty neat.” Mrs. Uris replied, apparently fascinated with every word Richie spoke. “That must be why you are so polite, dentists always have polite kids.”

“How many dentist kids do you know there Andrea?” Mr. Uris asked, chuckling to himself. “Do you go around grading childrens politeness based on their parents occupation?”

Eddie snorted, nearly choking on his food in the process. “Sorry,” He sputtered out. “Went down the wrong tube.”

“Right,” Stan nipped, “And I’m Johnny Depp.”

“I didn’t know the Depp man was Jewish.” Richie playfully pointed out, earning a small chuckle from Eddie, causing the trashmouth’s heart to skip a beat. “You’d think they’d advertise that.”

“Anyways,” Mrs. Uris ushered, trying to keep her son form jumping from his chair and strangling Richie. “What are your hobbies Richie? Do you play any sports?”

“Oh god no.” He chuckled, earning an unimpressed look from Eddie. “I mean no offense but I’m not the most graceful person in the world.”

“I don’t know, have you ever seen Stan play any sport? It’s like watching a newborn calf walk.” Eddie laughed at his own joke, forcing Stan to toss his roll right into his chest. “Hey now, the truth hurts Stanley.”

“Now boys.” Mr. Uris warned, making both children halt their actions and mutter an apology under their breath. “Eddie her is on the track team at Saint Ann’s, they are expecting him to take state.” It was a brag, no doubt about it making Mr. Uris’s chest puff out and his wife smile. “Stan is set for an academic scholarship so both of the boys are looking at only the best colleges. A good extra curricular activity is good for you Richie, you should look into taking up something even if it’s like the chess team.”

“Richie is in the drama club.” Stan blurted, making Richie’s ears burn. “The president even, I think.”

“Wow.” Eddie whistled, coming to Richie’s defense. “That’s about as cool as Stan’s bird club.”

“Alright you know what Kasbrak?” Stan shot back, pointing his fork right at his brother. “If you wanna go there we can go there, remember that I have pictures of you with that stupid fanny pack on. Want me to bring those bad boys out?”

“You wouldn’t dare.” Eddie hissed, narrowing his eyes.

Stan licked his lips. “Try me big boy.”

“Kasbrak?” Richie asked, the name sparking a memory in his brain. “Wait, are you related to Crazy Kaspbrak that lives down on 2nd?” The entire room went tense, making Richie realize his mistake immediately. The Uris’s became fascinated by their plates as Stan shoved his fork into Richie’s thigh. “Oh shit, I didn’t mean to-”

“I didn’t know Sonia had a nickname.” Eddie chuckled, his face twisting into an unreadable emotion. “Why didn't’ you tell me Stan?”

“It wasn’t something I thought you would be impressed with.” Stan quipped, staring down an already shrinking Richie. “It’s just a dumb name some kids gave her Eddie, no one thinks-”

“It’s fine.” Eddie cut, shaking his head. When his brother tried to speak again, he would have none of it. “Stan, it’s fine, really.” Looking at Richie he continued, “Sonia is my mother, although she’s nothing more than a birther to me.”

“Eddie…” Mr. Uris whispered softly, reaching out to his adoptive son but faltering when the phone began to ring from the kitchen. For a moment it looked like he was going to ignore it, but politeness won over as he pulled from the table and disappeared from the room. His voice still carried, the moment the person on the other line spoke, all politeness vanished. “I told you not to call here again.” Pause, “No, he doesn’t want to-”

Eddie sighed, rolling his eyes and excusing himself to go to Mr. Uris aid. His voice was much louder, much sharper and borderline pissy. “I told you not to call here again Sonia.” The name like venom to the dinner table. Stan looked sympathetic to Richie for the first time since his arrival, biting his lip and closing his eyes. “I don’t care what your therapist says, stop trying to contact me. You know what the judge said, I don’t have to put up with this bullshit anymore.” A very long pause, followed by. “Call here again and I’ll call the cops.” The slam of the phone caused everyone to flinch, their eyes advertising Eddie as he walked into the room. Eddie cleared his throat, making the parents look up. “Can I please be excused from dinner? I’ve lost my appetite.”

“Eddie, are you okay?” Mrs. Uris soothed, her eyes soft and inviting.

“I’m fine.” He assured, “Just tired.”

“Alright.” She replied, obviously unconvinced. “Goodnight son.”

“Goodnight.” His eyes lifted once more to meet Richie’s and a shiver ran down the trasmouths spine, settling down at the pace of his hip making him buzz. Once gone conversation lagged until it was over, and Richie was relieved when he and Stan could go back to their homework, although Richie’s mind kept wandering to the room next to Stan’s, ACDC blaring form it’s walls.

It was well past midnight before Richie realized Stan had actually passed out sitting upright. His mouth hung open, a deep breath coming from his lips. It wasn’t that Richie wasn’t impressed-because he was-it was that he knew how pissed he was going to be when he woke so to make sure he didn’t kink up his neck too bad, Richie literally tucked him. Once that was done he picked up the books and paper, careful not to disturb other things that Stan himself had organized. With a need for a cigarette making him itch.

Knowing that he had to be sneay, Richie chose the backyard for his secret smoke, careful not to make a single creek aas he snuck out. It was a relief, feeling the nicotine touch his lungs and he thanked every deity for whoever invented the damn cancer sticks. It was calm out here, Derry was fast asleep as well as it’s residences. A sweet release that only a cool night could bring and an easy feeling that a good breath provided. Richie was at peace.

“You know those things kill right?”

Richie nearly jumped out of his skin, obviously not expecting the sudden voice. It was Eddie, sitting on the porch swing, silently swaying to and fro. How in the hell Richie hadn’t noticed him was beyond him but there he was, in all his angelic glory. “Fuck, I didn’t know anyone was awake. I’m not-uh-this isn’t-”

“Calm down, I don’t care that you smoke.” Eddie reassured, waving away Richie’s fear of being outed. “Did mean to scare you, sorry about that.” He didn’t sound one bit sorry, his smirk an indication of his amusement. “What are you doing up? Isn’t Stan’s bedtime like nine o’clock?”

Richie chuckled, “Yeah, he straight up passed out while writing. Not a night owl is he?”

“Never has been.” Eddie nodded, “Does have a tendency of waking up early though. It’s super annoying.”

“Hmm.” He hummed in response, taking in the last drag before flicking the bud onto the ground and stomping on it. “And what about you? What are you doing awake this late?”

“I don’t sleep much.” Eddie shrugged, crossing his legs. “Come out for fresh air when I’ve got a got alot on my my mind.”

“What what do you have on your pretty little mind Eds?” The nickname just slipped out, tumbling down his front before falling between them with no grace whatsoever. He thought about taking it back but it stuck with him, Eds. His Eds.

“That’s not my name.” Eddie corrected, rolling his eyes. “Eddie already is a nickname dumbass.”

“I like it.” He admitted. “And that’s not really an answer.”

Eddie sat there for a moment, squinting his eyes and pursing his lips. “I’ll tell you what,” He sange, standing from the swing and strolling towards where Richie stood. “I’ll tell you what’s on my mind if you take a walk with me.”

“A walk?” He repeated, raising an eyebrow. “It’s the middle of the night.”

“Hmm.” Eddie passed by him, turning so that he was walking towards the gate backwards, his sparkling eyes inviting the trashmouth to join in the sins that the night held. “So it is.”

“Wait, what are you-”

“Come on Richie, where is your sense of fun?” Eddie playfully jested, licing his lips and pushing open the exit with his hip.

Richie knew Stan’s rule.

Knew what he had promised.

But those eyes, that smirk, it called to him in a way that couldn’t be ignored. It was an invitation, a sudden need to fulfill any of Eddie’s request that made Richie want to run head first through that gate. Somewhere deep down he knew that it would only cause his best friend to scold him in the morning but that was hours away, which right at that moment felt like a century. There was no use in arguing, which is why Richie followed, his heart leading him out into the streets and into the unknown.

Eddie fucking Kaspbrak, Richie thought, you are going to be the death of me.

#it #it au #requested #reddie #richie tozier #eddie kasbrak #best friend stan #best friends sibling au

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hollymartinswrites · 5 years ago

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Chapters: 12/? Fandom: IT - Stephen King, IT (Movies - Muschietti), Doctor Sleep - Stephen King, Doctor Sleep (2019) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh Characters: Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier, Ben Hanscom, Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough, Mike Hanlon, Original Child Character(s), Dan “Danny” Torrance, Abra Stone Additional Tags: Fix-It, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-IT Chapter Two (2019), Domestic, Light Angst, Family Feels, Childhood Trauma, Adoption, Kid Fic, Adopted Children, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Marriage, Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier Are Parents, Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Minor Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Beverly Marsh & Richie Tozier Are Best Friends, Catholicism, Richie Tozier Has Issues, Extended Tozier Family, Medical Examinations, Stephen King References, The Shining References, Doctor Sleep References, References to Depression, Depression, Mentioned Sonia Kaspbrak

Summary:

Eddie and Richie embark on the most terrifying experience of all—parenthood. Or, the author desperately needed a domestic, family fix-it for Richie and Eddie and it turned into a much longer, angstier exploration than I expected.

Chapter XII: Richie and Eddie receive some surprising information about their daughter's shine.

“Hello?”

“Hi,” Richie said, wincing as his voice cracked nervously. Jesus, he sounded like an idiot. “Uh, hi, this is Richie. You called me last night. A few times.”

“Oh, yeah,” the voice on the other end of the line said before clearing his throat. “It’s Dan.”

“Yeah, I know,” Richie replied, wincing again. “Um, it’s not too early, is it?”

“No, I was already up,” Dan Torrance replied and Richie had the feeling he was telling the truth. “We’ve been playing phone tag.”

“I know, sorry about that,” Richie said and glanced at Eddie, who nodded briefly. “Um, listen, you’re on speaker right now and I’m with my husband. We had a few questions for you, if this is an okay time to talk.”

“Sure,” Dan answered. “Go ahead.”

“Well, um...Eddie?”

Eddie swallowed before leaning closer towards the phone.

“Uh, hi, I just...” he sighed. “Look, what the fuck exactly is this shine you’re talking about?”

To their surprise, Dan laughed.

“You’re gonna hate me for this,” he said, “but I don’t really know. I mean, I’ve been working with some scientists and researchers and at best, they can just say it’s a form of...psychic ability.”

“So...psychics are real?” Richie asked dubiously.

“Well, I’m pretty sure the ones on TV are full of shit,” Dan replied. “And it’s not like I can look at you and see exactly what’s going to happen in the future. It’s more like...ideas. If that makes any sense.”

“But our daughter sees the past.”

“She’s seeing flickers of it,” Dan explained, “through you guys. And the people around her. At least, that’s what A—what I think she is doing. She’s not reading your minds, if that’s what concerns you.”

Richie glanced at Eddie, who still had a puzzled look on his face.

“Why is it called the shine?” he asked.

“That’s just what someone called it when he explained it to me as a kid,” Dan replied. “The name sorta stuck.”

“Jesus, how many shining people are there?” Richie asked.

“I don’t know,” Dan sighed. “I think there’s a lot more than we think. Probably a lot who don’t even realize they have it. I don’t know why we develop it. I found out recently that I’m not the only one in my family who has it but who knows what that means. Maybe we’re all born with it and it just flourishes in some people.”

Richie and Eddie fell silent, their minds awhirl. Suddenly, Richie remembered Abracadabra.

“Dan, is this...having the shine as a kid...well, I mean,” he said, trying to gather his thoughts. “Our daughter has an imaginary friend. But she said that this friend taught her about her shine. Is that...normal? Or is someone…”

“Is our daughter in any danger basically?” Eddie asked quickly.

“No, no,” Dan said quickly. “I mean, not...shit. Look, there was a group of people who—they’re not around anymore—who could’ve...who, if they found out about your daughter, they could’ve hurt her but they’re all dead now.”

The room seemed to spin and Richie clenched his eyes shut, fighting the instinct to drop the phone and run to his daughter’s room and gather her up in his arms.

“What do you mean they’re dead now?” Eddie asked numbly, his hand gripping Richie’s free one tightly.

Dan was silent for a worryingly long moment.

“I mean just that,” he admitted quietly. “I made sure of it.”

“How can we know they’re all gone? I mean, you said you’re working with scientists. Are people going to show up one day and take our daughter away for tests or some shit?” Richie asked, the tremble in his voice evident.

“No, no,” Dan said quickly. “There isn’t a database of us or something. And I swear to you, I haven’t told anyone about your daughter.” He sighed. “Look, I know how you feel. I have...someone with the shine in my life who’s like a daughter to me. She’s older than your girl but still young, and I can’t...she’s the most important person in my life and protecting her is everything to me.”

Both men gazed at one another, wondering just how much he could understand. Richie sighed and looked down, absently noticing that his hand holding the phone was shaking slightly.

“Your daughter’s imaginary friend,” Dan said suddenly, “does she have a name?”

“Abracadabra,” Richie replied impassively.

Once again, Dan fell silent. Eddie frowned and opened his mouth to speak when the other man said, “Well, I had one at her age, too.”

“So...it’s nothing to worry about?” Richie asked.

“No,” Dan replied, a little too quickly. “Listen, I got to get ready for work. But you can call me anytime. I don’t mind.”

“How do we know you’re not full of shit?” Eddie asked suddenly, eliciting yet another wince from Richie.

Much to their surprise, Dan merely laughed.

“I don’t blame you for not trusting me,” he said. “I guess talk to your daughter. See what she thinks.”

With that, he ended the phone call.

It was ten o’clock in the morning and Richie was alone.

The kids were at school, Eddie was at work, and Richie was in his home office staring at a black Word document. His agent had been on him to increase his writing output and had demanded he work on some jokes for one of his clients’ upcoming visits to some late night show. He had given Richie a rundown of what topics to cover and how to segue into promoting...whatever the fuck this comic had to promote but it had all flown right out of his head.

Richie sighed and glanced at the time. 10:02. Fuck.

He ran a hand over his face and flinched. Maybe he should shave. But he hated shaving. But Lydia had complained about how his kisses were scratchy now. So he should shave. Right? Yes, get up, stretch, shave. Be an adult.

The phone rang.

Richie picked it up quickly, barely glancing at whoever was calling, just thankful.

“Hello,” he said quickly.

“Hey, whoa, that was fast,” Ben observed. “Barely gave it time to ring.”

“Well, you know I always get excited when you call, baby doll,” Richie cooed. “What’s going on? And wait, isn’t it like the middle of the night by you?”

“It’s seven,” Ben laughed. “I’ve been up for an hour.”

“Jesus,” Richie sighed. “I actually had an early start today, too. Fucking sucked. So, what do I owe this pleasure? Something good, I hope.”

“Yeah,” Ben said, “I’m actually calling to see what you’re doing for President’s Day weekend.”

Richie hesitated and furrowed his brows.

“You do realize it’s still September right, Ben? Or is Seattle following like the Julian calendar or something?”

“I know it’s September but you and Eddie have kids and real responsibilities,” Ben explained. “So, Bev and I have to catch you ahead of time.”

“Okay but you must know I can’t think that far ahead,” Richie replied. “I mean, the kids and Eddie are usually off for it.”

“Well, that’s why we’re telling you know, months in advance, to keep that weekend free, okay?”

“Um, okay,” Richie said, “for any specific reason? Is the world ending that day or something?”

“No, but if you get an email confirming your plane tickets to Seattle for that weekend, don’t freak out, okay?”

“What the fuck? You can’t do that.”

“Yes, we can,” Ben replied, a hint of self-satisfaction in his voice.

“Well, we’re just gonna pay you back.”

“No, you’re not.”

“What the fuck, Ben? What’s going on?”

“Bev and I just want you all here with us,” Ben explained gently.

“What about the rest of the Losers?”

“Them, too,” Ben replied. Richie heard a distant voice over the line and then Ben responding. “Bev just finished talking to Eddie. He promised to take the kids out of school the Friday before and take off, too. So you guys are coming.”

“You’re seriously going to pay for all the Losers, plus us AND our kids?” Richie asked incredulously.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Are you guys getting married again or something?”

Ben laughed.

“No, something bigger than that. We’ll see you then, okay?”

Richie sighed.

“Okay, but this is all very mysterious and I don’t like mysterious phone calls from old friends,” Richie pointed out. “I learned my lesson from Mike.”

Ben laughed again.

“I promise this is much better than confronting a supernatural clown and childhood trauma,” he insisted. “So mark your calendar and we’ll see you then.”

“Alright,” Richie asked, puzzled. “See you then. Love you, you mysterious, handsome bastard.”

“Love you, too, Trashmouth,” Ben laughed again before hanging up.

Richie stared at the phone and frowned, wondering just what the hell he was up to. He sighed. Lydia will be excited to visit Ben and Bev but he worried about Tess. She had never been on an airplane and Richie knew, from his own overwhelming experience as a kid, that it may be too much for her. Time to schedule another appointment with the counselor and get her ready. Good thing Ben and Bev had given them plenty of time to prepare.

He rubbed at his eyes and looked back at the blank screen staring up at him. Richie sighed again, closed the laptop, and walked away.

The following Saturday, the last before October, proved unseasonably warm so after dinner, Richie and Eddie packed up the girls into the car and treated them to ice cream and a visit to the local beach before the sun set.

Thrilled and energized by their post-ice cream sugar rushes, Tess and Lydia chased each other up and down the shoreline, built and stomped on their sandcastles, played chicken with the surf, and watch the few remaining surfers in wonderment. Richie and Eddie sat on the faded beach blanket and watched them, enjoying the cool breeze off the ocean and the sound of their daughters laughing amid the waves. It was, by all accounts, bliss.

Eddie sighed contentedly and leaned back onto his hands, one of which was covering Richie’s. Richie looked over at him and smiled.

“You okay there, Eds?” he asked.

“Very okay,” Eddie replied. He briefly closed his eyes. “We should do this more often.”

“Yeah,” Richie said. “Before winter hits and we’re cooped up inside the house all the time.”

Eddie nodded and straightened.

“What do you think Bev and Ben are planning in February?” he asked.

Richie shrugged.

“Who knows, but it’s gotta be big,” he answered.

“Maybe she’s pregnant,” Eddie offered.

“They wouldn’t fly us all the way out there for a pregnancy announcement.”

“Maybe she wants us there for the birth,” Eddie laughed.

“Yeah,” Richie said, rolling his eyes, “she wants us there holding up her legs as she pushes.”

“We’d be great birthing coaches,” Eddie replied, smirking.

“We’d have to be sedated.” Richie stretched out and laid down, closing his eyes. “It has to be something else.”

“I guess so,” Eddie replied. “Either way, it’ll be nice to get away during the winter.”

“Yeah to Seattle,” Richie snorted. “More grey skies and freezing temperatures.”

“Well, what if we plan another trip? Someplace warmer.”

Richie cracked open one eye to gaze at his husband.

“You wanna risk two big trips in one year with the kids?” he asked. “I mean, Tess has never even been on a plane.”

“I know,” Eddie replied, “but maybe it’ll—”

They were interrupted by Richie’s phone buzzing.

“Ugh,” Richie groaned, reaching into his back pocket and blindly handing it to Eddie, “answer it for me, would ya?”

“Rich,” Eddie said quietly as he took the phone, “it’s New Hampshire. Dan.”

Richie’s eyes flew open and he instantly sat up.

“Answer it,” he said quickly, glancing at Tess and Lydia happily searching for seashells.

Eddie did so, quickly putting it on speaker and leaning in close to his husband.

“Hello?” he said cautiously.

“Hi, uh, Richie?” Dan asked.

“We’re both here,” Richie answered. “What’s going on? Everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, just…” Dan sighed. “Look, I think I owe you guys an apology.”

Richie felt a chill that had nothing to do with the ocean breeze.

“What are you talking about?” Eddie asked firmly and Richie noticed his grip on the phone tightened.

“Well, it’s not really...I’m technically not the one who should be apologizing,” Dan said, “and I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure so…” he trailed off and sighed again. Richie wanted to throw up. “Look, basically, your daughter’s imaginary friend isn’t so imaginary.”

“What the fuck do you mean?” Eddie demanded.

“I mean,” Dan said quickly, “for the last couple of months, she’s been talking to my niece.”

Richie wondered how he could feel so dizzy while sitting on the solid ground. He shook his head but that only made it worse. He clenched his eyes shut and tried to quell the rising nausea in his stomach.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Eddie continued, his face pale and angry.

“My niece,” Dan repeated, as if now it made all the sense in the world, “she’s the one who your daughter has been seeing. She’s Abracadabra.” He sighed a third time before suddenly rambling, “She knows she’s not supposed to do this. But she’s in college now and she thinks she knows better. You know how kids are.”

“No, I don’t know how kids are,” Eddie replied, his voice deadly serious. “And I don’t know how an invisible, imaginary friend can be your living, breathing niece so please explain.”

Richie thought he heard Dan gulp and he couldn’t blame him. It wasn’t fun being on the receiving end of Eddie’s cold wrath.

“My niece can...she has the shine, okay? She’s the one who I’m trying to protect like you’re trying to do with your daughter,” Dan said. “But she’s not making it easy for me. And her abilities are...well, they’re very strong. She can...the researchers call it astral projection but—”

“Bullshit,” Eddie spat. “This is bullshit.”

“And she found out about your daughter,” Dan continued, “and she’s been trying to...give her advice, I guess.”

“How the fuck did she find Tess?”

“I don’t know,” Dan admitted. “Sometimes people with the shine, they can sort of sense one another. And like I said, Abra—”

“Abra?” Richie interrupted.

“Yeah, that’s her name,” Dan said lowly. “Abra has some of the strongest abilities I’ve ever seen. Somehow they crossed paths...either literally or...mentally.”

The two men fell silent. Their daughters were shrieking with laughter and all Richie wanted to do was grab them both and immediately rush home, locking the door behind them.

“I spoke to her today,” Dan continued, “and found this all out. I suspected it earlier but, yeah. So I wanted to apologize. Like I said, she knows not to pull this sort of shit but she’s nineteen and kinda...willful.”

“Are you seriously telling me,” Eddie said slowly, “that a nineteen-year-old stranger has been visiting and speaking to my four-year-old daughter?”

There was a long pause and Richie just knew Dan had to be kicking himself.

“Not physically,” he answered lamely.

“Fuck you,” Eddie responded. “Fuck you and fuck your niece, whoever the fuck she is. We’re done. We’re going to hang up, block this number, and if hear anything at all about someone seeing our daughter, we’re calling the cops.”

“And what are you gonna tell them?” Dan replied quickly. “An invisible girl is bothering us? Look, I made Abra promise to stop. And trust me, I’ll know if she’s lying. But you have to believe that she was only trying to help.”

“Don’t care,” Eddie said.

“Your daughter’s been doing better, hasn’t she?” Dan pointed out. “No more seizures or episodes, right?” At both men’s silence, he insisted, “That’s Abra’s doing. Just remember that, okay? You can be pissed off all you want but she was...she fucked up but her heart was in the right place.”

“We’re hanging up now,” Eddie said.

“This is a New Jersey number, right?” Dan asked suddenly.

Eddie glanced at Richie, who cleared his throat before admitting, “Yeah.”

“Look, Abra is in New York City,” he said. “I’m only telling you this because she fucked up. If you want to speak to her in person, I can...it can be arranged just please remember, she’s still a kid and she’s had some...trauma in her life.”

Both men fell silent again and Richie ran a shaking hand through his hair. Lydia called his name, waving and holding up what appeared to be a giant shell. He waved back.

“We have to go,” Richie said.

“Okay,” Dan sighed.

“And don’t call us ever again,” Eddie said, ending the call. He dropped the phone onto the blanket, his face still pinched with anger. He clenched his shaking hands into fists and shook his head, taking a deep, slow breath.

“Eddie,” Richie whispered, guilt suddenly overwhelming him. “Eddie, I—”

“Block that number,” Eddie said calmly. “I’m gonna go get the girls. It’s getting dark.”

Richie watched as his husband stood, brushed the sand of his legs, and walked towards the shore, their daughters rushing up to meet him with their hands filled with shells. He blinked when he realized he had tears in his eyes and quickly wiped them away, schooling his face into a wide grin as the girls raced up to the blanket, chattering excitedly.

“Wow, look at those,” he said, observing the shells in their outstretched hands. “That’s some excavation work, girls.”

“Daddy said we can put them in the garden,” Lydia announced happily.

“Sure, we can,” Richie agreed. “You guys ready to go?”

The girls whined and begged for another half hour but Eddie was right. The sun was setting and they knew better than to push off bedtime. Both men shook off and rolled up the blanket as the girls carefully placed their shells into a tote bag brought especially for the occasion before taking their fathers’ hands. As they walked up the beach to the boardwalk, Richie noticed Tess peering up at him curiously.

“You okay, kiddo?” he asked.

“Are you okay?” she responded.

Richie swallowed and nodded, smiling broadly.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he said.

Tess turned to look at Eddie but he smiled back down at her, as well. She looked as if she wanted to question them further but she was interrupted by her sister asking for ice cream on the ride home. Richie exhaled a breath, tightened his grip on his daughter’s hand, and thought only of home.

#reddie #reddie fanfic #it chapter 2 #doctor sleep #stephen king universe

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