Chapter Text
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richie hummed gently, pushing himself to keep walking. he'd be home soon. he couldn't look back.
"r-richie, p-please."
don't turn around.
"i'm so s-sorry."
don't.
"shit!"
richie sighed exasperatedly at the wince from the boy following him, turning around with a curious expression. his eyes widened as he saw him sprawled across the pavement, the school bully, henry, standing over him.
oh, eds. what have you gotten yourself into?
he swallowed the lump in his throat. "fuck off, bowers!"
henry snapped his head around, eyes narrowing slightly. "what?"
"don't you fucking touch him."
henry snickered to himself, shaking his head as he stepped towards richie with a small smirk. the younger exhaled and crossed his arms shakily.
"what are you gonna do about it, tozier?" he challenged, raising his eyebrows and pulling something out of his pocket. richie's eyes were instantly drawn to it, the sunlight gleaming off of the sharp blade. "p-put it away."
he glanced down at it, and back up at richie. "i don't think so. now fuck off, or you'll get the same as your friend here."
richie restrained himself from correcting henry. friend? please. ex-friend.
"n-no. i'm not l-letting you hurt him."
his eyes drifted to eddie on the ground, panting for breath, a terrified expression on his face. they locked eyes for a moment, before henry interrupted it with a small grunt. "beat it, richie."
with that, the bully turned his back to him and focused back on eddie.
richie gasped, flinching slightly as henry's foot connected with eddie's stomach. "fuck!" eddie cursed, squeezing his eyes shut as he panted for air. richie wanted to help, but he couldn'tmove. his feet felt concreted to the ground, and his eyes were stuck on eddie's terrified expression.
sure, he wanted to leave him.
he deserved it after what he'd done.
but he couldn't. of course he couldn't.
he heard another wince from his be- ex-best friend, seeing the blood pouring from his nose. "leave him a-alone, henry!" he called out, stepping towards them with a determined look in his eye. he was faking it, of course. he was just about ready to shit himself.
"make me."
and that's when richie noticed the gleam in his eye. it's almost psychotic. maybe he's not just a bully. "l-look. please. leave h-him alone," his voice cracked slightly, a pleading tone as he couldn't help but notice the tears streaming down eddie's face.
henry grabbed the shaken boy's arm, holding his blade at his wrist.
"fuck, h-henry no, c'mon, p-please-"
"shut the fuck up!"
he jumped slightly at that, eyes widening as he rubs his arm.
and at that point, all he could think to do was to run at him. and so he did.
he barged his shoulder into the older boy, knocking the knife out of his hand. "damn," he muttered to himself, surprised. henry growled under his breath, pushing richie back as he stumbles over his feet. he reached his hand out for eddie, pulling him up quickly. "go."
"w-what, rich, no. i can't j-just l-"
"for fuck's sake eddie, i said go."
eddie hesitated, pulling his arm out of richie's grasp and running.
he watched the boy leave, before directing his eyes back to henry slowly. the knife was still at his feet, his eyes were still on richie. so he took advantage of that, and he sprinted.
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eddie shoved his puffer back into his bag, doing up the zip and slinging it over his shoulder. he glanced outside the bathroom for a moment, making sure he won't run into anyone he doesn't want to see, before joining the crowd of students and walking towards his locker.
his eyes were instantly drawn to richie standing a few feet away from him, who was focused on his phone. his eyes were slightly narrowed, and his bottom lip was between his teeth. he groaned in annoyance, head falling back as he shoved the phone into his pocket and looked up, meeting eyes with eddie.
instantly, eddie felt his face heat up, and he glanced away to avoid any further embarrassment after yesterday. he knew richie was done with him now.
his only friend. the only person he had. the person he laughed and cried with. the person who had always been there for him. he was gone. gone because of one, dumb mistake he had made.
he'd kissed him.
he'd kissed richie tozier.
and richie did not like it.
when eddie first came out to richie, he was scared.
"what if something were to happen to ruin our friendship?"
but eventually, he came to accept it, after coming to a deal that nothing would ever happen between them. and eddie was cool with it.
so why on earth did he kiss him?
they were at the movies, watching a new film that neither of them were even interested in. eddie had his head on richie's shoulder, eyes shut, almost asleep. "hey, don't fall asleep on me, eds."
"don't call me eds," he mumbled, eyes still shut. richie shrugged him off, causing the other to huff and focus back on the screen. richie put his finger under eddie's chin, turning his head toward him. "do you want to leave? you bored?"
eddie nodded, eyes wide as his heart pounded fast inside his chest. "okay," richie replied quietly, face flushed. but for some reason, he couldn't break eye contact.
and eddie couldn't help himself. richie took a moment before pulling away, grabbing his jacket and running out of the theatre, the other boy chasing after him, yelling his name and begging for him to wait.
eddie felt tears stinging at his eyes from the memory, turning himself away from richie and quickly wiping his eyes. "eddie!" he couldn't bring himself to face richie. not now. maybe not ever. "edward kaspbrak!"
he used his full name.
he hated when richie used his full name.
with a nervous sigh, he turned around and met eyes with richie. "what?"
"why are you crying?"
"why d-do you care?" eddie snapped back, eyes drifting to the floor. why was he being so nice?
richie sighed, pushing up his glasses. "why are you crying?"
eddie snorted, "i-i'm not c-crying."
richie just shook his head, pushing past eddie and barging into him with his shoulder as the bell rang for their first class.
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