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The quarry was silent but for the crickets and the water flowing beneath them. Richie and Eddie sat on the edge of the cliff, legs dangling over the edge into the black abyss. Eddie knew the water really wasn't that far below them, but he could barely make anything out in the dark. He sighed, swinging his legs and looking up at the stars.
It had been Richie's idea. Lately, Eddie hadn't been able to deny him a thing. Especially not when Richie climbed through his window in the middle of the night and insisted they go stargazing. Eddie remembered thinking Richie was insane before realizing his inability to refuse made him even crazier. After pretending like he wasn't going to give in for two minutes, Eddie had followed Richie back out of his window.
And now they were here. Completely alone. Stargazing.
Eddie snorted at the sheer gay cliche of it all, but he couldn't lie to himself. He had so many butterflies in his stomach he thought he might throw one up. His palms were sweaty, and his heart was racing. On the other hand, Richie seemed perfectly content. His focus was entirely on the sky above them, eyes reflecting the glittering stars. He was leaning back on his hands, his shoulders hunched in a way Eddie knew would ruin his spine.
Suddenly, Eddie felt a very light pressure on his fingers. His heart stopped. He's fucking trying to hold my hand. What the fuck do I do? Mom? God? Anyone? Eddie inhaled deeply before accepting it was time to man the fuck up and return the gesture. As he scooted his hand closer to show Richie he wanted it too, Richie's fingers starting dancing on his hand. Wait, what?
Eddie looked down in horror to find a monstrous cockroach crawling on his hand.
Standing up faster than he'd ever moved in his whole damn life, Eddie hysterically screamed. Richie immediately looked at him, alarm clearly written across his face.
"The fuck's going on, Eds? What happened?" At Eddie's continued hysterics, Richie scrambled up to stand in front of him. He tried to pull Eddie into a hug, but the shorter boy vehemently pushed him back and began tearing through his fanny pack.
After Eddie found his hand sanitizer, he squirted a generous dollop into his hands. Still wheezing, he explained, "T-there was a f-fuh-fucking cockroach! Crawling on my hand! Do you know how many fucking germs they can carry? How fucking dirty they are? And it was just! Crawling. On my hand." He furiously rubbed his hands together, insistent on eradicating every microbe the roach could've left on his skin.
Richie doubled over and started laughing. Eddie glared at him. "Eds, baby, you scared the shit outta me!" Richie wiped tears away from his eyes. Eddie used his rage to ignore the pet name. "I thought you were dying or some shit! Holy fuck."
"Fuck off, Rich."
Richie calmed down enough to register that Eddie was decidedly not laughing. "I'm sorry, Spaghetti Man. I woulda shat my pants, you know."
Eddie took a deep breath at his apology. "I don't think shat is part of the conjugation of shit."
Richie's mouth cracked into a shit-eating grin. "Oh, you don't? Lemme just pull out my swear dictionary and prove you wrong, Professor Kaspbrak."
Eddie smiled and shoved at Richie. He hesitated before deciding fuck it and grabbed Richie's hand. "Let's get some food. I just shit out my dinner."
"Shat, you mean."
They found themselves at the 24/7 diner a few blocks from Eddie's house, instinctively heading to the booth in the back corner. Richie slid in the bench and pulled Eddie down onto the same side as him. Only just noticing they were still holding hands, Eddie awkwardly removed his and put it in his jacket pocket.
A tired-looking waitress walked up to them, not even bothering to ask what they wanted as Richie was already ordering.
"Two a' yous best chocolate milkshakes, m'lady." Richie oofed at Eddie's sharp elbow digging into his side. He cleared his throat before continuing, "And two orders of fries."
The waitress popped her gum before walking to the back to place their order.
"The fuck was that accent, Tozier?"
"New one I'm working on."
"Nobody talks like that."
Richie threw his arm around Eddie, ruffling his hair. "I bet you that at least one person in the world talks like that."
Eddie smirked back at him. "Fine. But it's up to you to go through every single human being and find that one person."
Richie mock-glared at him before opening his mouth to say something. He was interrupted by the waitress returning with their milkshakes and fries. They thanked her, and Richie enthusiastically tucked in with his left hand (right arm still around Eddie) while Eddie picked a single fry up at a time.
After a minute of his wolfish shoveling, Richie began picking up two fries at a time and dipping them into his milkshake. Eddie's nose scrunched in disgust.
"That is absolutely the nastiest thing I've ever seen."
His mouth full of fries and milkshake, Richie giddily replied, "You've never seen your mom's vagina then, huh?"
Eddie choked on a fry and glared at Richie. He considered retorting before deeming it pointless. Richie and mom jokes are a package deal.
The two sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, Richie still inhaling his food and his arm still around Eddie's shoulders. Eddie may have scooted closer to Richie, but he'd never tell. Eddie found his eyes drifting over to Richie, as they often did. He choked on a fry again.
Richie was gorgeous. This wasn't news to anyone, especially not to Eddie. He'd grown out of his awkward proportions to become a lean 6'3" seventeen year old. Puberty had defined his cheekbones even more, and his dark curls were the perfect level of unruly. He'd traded out the coke-bottle glasses for new ones that had a similar shape. Richie didn't really like having to wear them, but Eddie loved his glasses.
However, at the moment, it'd be quite hard to objectively describe Richie as attractive. He had dark circles from staying up, he had a cluster of acne on his left cheek, and the diner lighting wasn't doing him any favors. Even worse, he had chocolate milkshake all over his mouth. Some had even gotten on his nose.
Eddie was completely dumbfounded and honestly offended that Richie still looked like a gift from the gods. Richie paused his eating when he felt Eddie's eyes on him. He slowly turned his head to meet Eddie's eyes, his left hand still loosely holding fries doused in milkshake.
At least he swallowed before speaking. "W-what's up, Eds?" His voice was uncharacteristically nervous.
And Eddie. Oh, Eddie. Eddie really meant to chastise him for the mess on his face. Instead, it came out as "You're really pretty."
Fuck you, brain.
Instant regret and embarrassment flooded him, heat rising from his neck to his cheeks to his ears until his whole face was burning.
And Richie just stared. Open-mouthed. Eddie could still see food-bits in his teeth. Suddenly, Richie became red. This just makes his freckles stick out more. Richie no longer seemed to be breathing.
"Are you okay?"
Richie closed and opened his mouth again , and a whole host of odd, strangled noises spilled out. He gave up on speaking and just nodded.
Eddie sat uncomfortably, wondering if Richie would ever say something. He went back to drinking his milkshake, feeling Richie's eyes still boring a hole into the side of his face. He pretended not to notice. Denial is the best remedy. He noticed Richie's arm was still around him and not pulled away in disgust, so that had to count for something, right? If he could just fucking say something!
"Eds, you're fucking beautiful."
Okay. Not what I was expecting. Eddie felt a new flush overtake him and refused to look anywhere but his lap. He mumbled his response.
"Run that by me again."
Eddie took a deep breath and looked Richie in the eye. "I said... you're prettier."
Now at this point, both boys were sitting completely red-faced in the corner of some crappy diner. The waitress was watching them from the counter, waiting to see what would happen next. And what happened next was a painful cliche.
Eddie leaned in closer to Richie, bringing a hand up to his jaw. He wiped away some of the milkshake from Richie's lips with his thumb, his breath hitching when Richie's did. Eddie kissed him before he could chicken out.
It was... interesting. Richie's mouth was sticky, and Eddie could feel the stickiness transferring to him. Furthermore, they were in the most awkward position possible. Eddie grabbed Richie's arm to move it around his waist and brought his own hands up to Richie's face. And then he opened his lips up to Richie, whose tongue seemed determined to take Eddie apart by the seams.
After a bit, Richie pulled back enough to look at Eddie. "You're the prettiest." He pecked him again before pulling away with a triumphant smile.
"Are you seriously making this a contest?"
"I definitely am."
"Well, in that case, go on a date with me, Richie."
"Only if you agree to be my boyfriend, Eds."
"Sure."
"I think that means I win this round."
"Just you wait, Richie. I'm gonna romance the fuck outta you."
"I'd love nothing more."