Archive of Our Own

Eddie Kaspbrak laid on the grass outside of his new house bathing in the summer sun. His mother, Sonia Kaspbrak, was at her first day of work here in Derry and had banned Eddie from leaving the house until she got home. She claimed she didn’t know the area well enough yet, and that her sons ‘allergies’ would act up. Eddie had smiled and nodded when she explained this, but he had found out about her lies when he was thirteen. His seventeenth birthday had been a couple of months ago and he still hadn’t told her that he knew.

Eddie had been happy in New York, but he didn’t have any friends, he kept to himself, and only spoke when he needed to. At his old school it got so bad that a girl in his math class thought he was mute and felt so bad for him she kissed him, with tongue. It was sloppy and sticky from her cherry lip-gloss. He always knew there was something odd, something not-normal about him, but he had never really thought about it till that day. Eddie had ran out of the room and sat on the ground in the corridor and sobbed quietly.

Eddie couldn’t stop replaying the memory again and again in his mind and his breathing picked up, he started to choke on his own breathing (Cool, right?) and before he knew it, he felt an asthma attack coming on. Eddie’s vision started to cloud up and he was sweating. All he could think about though, was that if he died, his mother would find him on the grass where she had told him not to go. Then she would spread the word that grass kills and no one would be able to sit on the grass ever again. In Eddie’s mind, the whole world was screwed if he died. His stupid thoughts were cut off as his lungs began to give up on him. But then, he heard a voice.

“Are you okay??”

He opened my eyes to see a boy around his age jogging up to him. He had eyes that could light up the sky.
“Inhaler, fanny pack,” Eddie wheezed, pointing a finger to his house. He watched the boy run inside and emerge with Eddie’s fanny pack in his hand, in a matter of what felt like seconds. He skidded to a stop and poured out the contents onto the grass, grabbing the blue plastic and placing it in Eddie’s mouth, triggering it quickly. Air filled the smaller boy’s lungs and his face returned to its normal tan colour.

“Thank you so much,” Eddie gasped after a few moments of breathing.
“Mike,” the boy said, “Mike Hanlon. You just moved here?”
“Yeah, a couple days ago, it’s Eddie by the way, Eddie Kaspbrak.” Mike stood up and helped Eddie up off the floor. He picked up all the things scattered on the grass and placed them back in the fanny pack.
“Sorry, I-uh just had to get the inhaler as quickly as possible, I didn’t want you to pass out.” He looked nervous and genuinely sorry.
“It’s fine,” Eddie laughed to show that it really wasn’t a big deal, even though on the inside there was always the small voice of his mother was telling him to get away from this dirty boy and wash his things. He ignored it and started a conversation with him about New York which he seemed very interested in, he would later learn that Mike has never left Derry.

“So are you going to Derry High?” Mike asked.
“Yeah I am, you go there?”
“Yeah I do! You should sit with us at lunch!”
Eddie instantly became nervous, “I’m not very good at talking to other people,” he said, thinking about having to talk to all of Mike’s friends.
“Oh no don’t worry, you’ll fit right in! Everyone’s super nice! Watch out for Richie though, I have a feeling he might like you.” Mike shot him a wink and Eddie was taken aback.

Who was this Richie?

Eddie was pulled away from his thoughts when he felt a small pinch on his arm. Out of habit he pinched back and smiled but stopped when he saw Mike’s gaze upon him.
“Soulmate?” He asked and Eddie instantly turned red.
“Y-yeah.” Mike murmured something but then stopped and jumped to his feet.
“Oh fuck what time is it? I gotta get back, but it was really nice meeting you Eddie.” He smiled and Eddie returned the action.
“You too Mike.” and he started walking away down the road.

~
Eddie alarm buzzed and he woke up from his dream, frowning slightly. It was the first day of school and Eddie was already ready to give up and sleep the rest of the day. He glanced at the time, realising he was behind schedule and jumped out of bed. He quickly grabbed his signature red shorts and a pastel oversized jumper. Ruffling his hair in disgust, he clipped on his fanny pack which was pre-prepared for the morning and walked out of his room and headed down the stairs. He walked into the bathroom and quickly brushed his perfect, white teeth before heading down to the kitchen where his bag and an apple lay next to a note from his asleep mother.

‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away! Eat this for breakfast Eddie-bear, you don’t want to get sick, xx -Mommy’

“Bye Mommy!” He yelled and quickly left the house before she could get up and give him a long talk about being safe and taking his ‘medication’.

Eddie arrived at the huge school just as the bell rang, no one gave him a second glance which he was grateful for, he walked into the school and sat down on one of the large chairs in the office. Five minutes later Eddie heard his voice being called out.

“Mr Kaspbrak?” He stood up and walked up to the stick woman who had called his name.
”Ah hello Mr Kaspbrak and welcome to Derry High! This is Greta and she’s going to be giving you a short tour this morning before taking you to your first lesson, have a great day!” Eddie smiled at her and once she walked away dropped it and looked at this Greta girl. She seemed fairly nice, not menasing which was a plus.

“Hey Eddie, I’m Greta,” She offered him her hand and he shook it quickly. Her skin was soft and pale. She walked him around for a bit before starting a conversation.

“Now Eddie I’m going to go off plan here and give you something I don’t give any of the new students I show around, some inside information.” She started talking about what teachers to avoid and who was strict about there rules and who could let it slide. We were outside his first class and Eddie was about to walk in but she pulled him aside.

“Listen Eddie, no offence but you’re small. You seem nice so I don’t want you to get broken in this school so here are the people to avoid. Firstly, The Bowers gang.” Eddie tilted his head in confusion, “Trust me you’ll know who they are by 5th period, do not show them any emotion, at most they’ll annoy you for a few days but if you don’t show any reaction to them they’ll get bored and move on. Secondly, Richie Tozier.” His ears perked up at the same name Mike mentioned two days ago. “Do not fall for him Kaspbrak, you are just the type he goes after. In some ways he’s worse than Henry, ignore him with everything you have, it will be hard, trust me. Goodluck Eddie, you’ll need it.” She walked down the corridor and Eddie took a deep breath, and walked into the classroom.

~
First, second and third period were alright. Eddie put up his hand for some questions and didn’t mess up, but not for so many he would be a nerd. He made small talk with the people next to him, talking about some video game my cousin showed him, overall he was fine. One strange thing happened however during a short conversation with a guy named Sam who sat on the left of Eddie. He whispered something into the guy next to him. Eddie didn’t quite catch it but it was apparently hilarious as the other guy was almost crying with laughter looking at me. “What?” Eddie asked paranoid it was something horrible about me.
“No, no it’s nothing it’s just” *another snort of laughter* “You are the real life version of Richie’s type.” Sam said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Eddie asked getting impatient.
“Like before the break me and Sam were talkin’ about our types and shit and Rich ligit described you, your personality and everythin’ exactly the same” This made Sam and him start laughing again so Eddie decided to ignore them.

Why did everyone feel the need to mention Richie to him?

The bell for lunch rang and he tried to quickly slip away but felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Richie’s gunna love you.” Sam whispered in his ear and Eddie shrugged him off before speed walking to the lunch hall.

~

“I don’t believe you Mike! How can he be Richie’s EXACT type? That’s literally impossible!”
“He just is Bev, trust me. You’ll see when you meet hi-”

“Hey Mike,” a small voice said from behind Beverly. She saw the grin on Mike’s face with a slight bit of smugness mixed in it. Beverly assumed this was the infamous ‘Eddie Kaspbrak’ Mike had told her so much about, so she turned around to be faced with the cutest boy in all of mankind.

“Eddie this is-”
“Beverly,” Beverly interrupted, standing up to greet him, “I’ve heard lots about you.”

Finally, in front of him she took in his appearance, and oh my god. As much as she hated to admit it, Eddie was everything Mike said he was. Button nose with a sprinkle of freckles along his cheeks, a slight blush because of what, embarrassment?

Bev sat down and started at her food, gesturing to the seat next to hers for Eddie to sit at. She wasn’t sure if she had been dreaming, but she swore to god when he awkwardly sat down that she saw a fucking fanny pack on his waist.

Eddie and Mike’s eyes were on her and she turn beet red realising that she said it out loud.
“Yes, it is a fanny pack, and it is very useful for carrying all sorts of things around.” Eddie responded with a hint of sass.
This is Richie’s dream boy, Bev thought.

Mike cleared his throat and changed the conversation swiftly,
“So Eddie, how’s your first day of school been so far?”

“It was alright I suppose, except can you please tell me who the fuck this Richie guy is, because I’m pretty sure he’s been mentioned to me ten times.” Bev choked on her drink but luckily, before either of them could say anything, Bill and Stan approached the table.

“There were zombies everywhere and my uncle said that they spent thousands on the graphics for it-” Stan stopped talking once his eyes landed on Eddie “Holy shit, you are just like Mike said you were, Ri-”
“If I hear one more fucking thing about Richie I’m going to kill myself,” Eddie says, putting his head in his hands.
“Sorry. Eddie, this is Stan and Bill,” Mike says, giving Bill a smug look which made him roll his eyes.

“H-hey.” Bill said
“Hi, sorry about that..” Stan says, quickly after Bill. Eddie lifts his head and looks at their two intertwined hands.

“Are you guys..?” Eddie trails off.
“Yeah they’re lucky fuckers, found each other when they were seven years old.” Another voice says, startling Eddie. “I’m Ben,” Ben says, shaking Eddie’s hand.
“I fell over when I was seven and grazed my knee, and Bill was next to me and felt the same pain,” Stan said.
“We’ve b-been together e-ever since” Bill finishes.

Eddie gives them a smile before starting the age-old conversation about soulmates.
“Have you guys met yours yet?” he asked. Everyone (except Bill and Stan) shook their heads.

“What about you Eddie?” Mike asked. It was almost like the whole room was on pause except the Loser’s table, everyone just wanted to know if Eddie was single or not. For Richie’s sake.
“Nah,” he says and starts to eat his salad. It was like a weight had been lifted from all of their shoulders, because if Eddie was taken, or straight, he probably couldn’t hang out with them because Richie would be so insanely jealous. Bev honestly really liked Eddie and wouldn’t want him to leave the group. Shit, she hated it when Mike was right.
“Eddie,” Beverly said, “Welcome to the Losers Club.”

~
“S-so we usually h-hang out at th-he barrens or m-my house,” Bill said while he walked Eddie to fourth period. “You a-are welcome to j-join t-today aft-ter school if y-you want.” Eddie nodded and that was a good enough answer for Bill as the conversation moved on swiftly.

Eddie noted that Bill’s stutter went down around Stanley, which he thought was interesting. He waved goodbye to Bill once he reached his classroom and he walked in, quickly taking a seat in the back next to an (one might say) attractive girl. She had sleek black hair reaching down to her ribs which was clipped out of her face with a daisy clip which completely stuck out with her bold neon-colored outfit. She gave Eddie a warm hearted smile before opening her textbook and beginning to read it. A few minutes later, she raised her head from the book and turned to Eddie once again.

“I’m Vee, and you are?”
“Eddie.” the boy replied, and she nodded.
“Well Eddie, welcome to hell, I hope you enjoy your stay!” Eddie laughed and the second bell rung, signaling the start of class. The teacher walked in and began lecturing about the structure of cells. However, Eddie didn’t listen as Vee had slid him a note;
‘Wanna be friends? You seem pretty chill and that fucking fanny pack is the best thing I think I’ve ever seen, I’d be lying if I said the reason I want to be friends with you isn’t because of your outfit.’
Eddie giggled and scribble down a quick ‘Same, and sure!’ before actually getting to work.

Eddie watched her grin at him after reading the message but her smile dropped as someone walked through the door. A tall boy with the ugliest mullet Eddie had ever seen came into the classroom. His dirty blonde hair bounced as he took his seat on the other side of the room, a permanent scowl on his face. His friend thumped him on the back and they began a conversation, glancing over to Eddie and Vee every couple seconds. They erupted into laughter bringing attention to themselves.

“Mr. Bowers if you have something to say why don’t you share it with the class?” The teacher said impatiently. Eddie recognised the name from somewhere, but he wasn’t sure where.
“Alright.” Henry stood up and faced the class, still sniggering. “Me and Belch were just talking about how the new kid is the gayest piece of shit we’ve ever seen like look at those booty shor-”
“MR. BOWERS PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE NOW,” bellowed the teacher. Eddie’s face turned bright red and Henry glared at Eddie before walking out. “Mr Kaspbrak are you alright?”asked his teacher.
“Y-yeah I’m fine.” Eddie stuttered out, feeling all thirty eyes on him. The teacher continued the lesson and Eddie was thankful the attention was finally off of him. Vee shot him a sympathetic look and mimed ‘Henry’ to him. Eddie nodded, now remembering what Gretta had said.
‘Ignore them Eddie. They’ll move on,’

~
The bell startled Eddie, and he quickly jumped out of his seat, stuffing things in his backpack, and bidding farewell to Vee. He started down the corridor but he didn’t get very far. As soon as Eddie neared the exit, he was being pulled backwards by the same boy he had seen sitting next to Henry earlier. Eddies back slammed against the lockers painfully.

“Aw, look at the little fag, got no friends?” the bigger boy sneered, looking Eddie up and down. Eddie felt the urge to cry, but Greta’s words echoed in his mind.
“Show them no emotion.”
So he didn’t. Eddie ignored the dull pain in his spine from the pressure of the locker and stared at the approaching Henry, right in the eyes.
“Wel, well, well, fresh meat.” he laughed, and Eddie still showed no expression. Henry started to throw insults at him but Eddie closed his eyes, refusing to let them get to him. Eddie would later cry about the new insult that he hadn’t heard before ‘Girly-boy’, but at this moment in time, he knew had to stay strong. Eddie heard the clicks of high heels echoing down the hallway, and the bullies backed off pretending they were looking for something. Eddie scoffed at their stupidity, and ran out the door. Glancing at his watch, he was sure that the others would have left without him.. Class had ended twenty minutes ago, but there they were, sitting and talking on the bike racks.

“Hey,” Eddie mumbled bringing the attention to himself, “H-”
“Henry give you shit? Yeah, he does that to everyone on their first day, showing them not to mess with him and shit, you alright?” Ben asked, and Eddie nodded. With that, everyone started to unlock their bikes and began to walk down to the barrens. Everyone was laughing and messing around, and for the first time in his life, Eddie actually felt like a teenager.

~

“Eddie my dear, welcome to the Barrens!” Mike announced proudly. “This is the coolest place in Derry.”
Eddie looked around and took in his surroundings. The tall trees hid the group from the large road not too far away, so that no passerby could see them lurking. There was a small river that led down further into the woods and a pile of sticks was placed on the ground. Eddie was unaware of this pile until he was face down in it, foot throbbing.

“Oh my god Eddie are you okay?!” Stan spoke, rushing over to the boys side.
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. I just tripped, twisted my ankle a bit” Eddie winced, trying to stay calm, but he was screaming on the inside, thinking of all the dirt and germs crawling up his face and legs, making homes in his ears.

Soon he was gasping for breath, and Mike recognised instantly that he needed his inhaler. He grabbed it while the others helped him and brushed him off. Mike quickly handed it to Eddie, who took it thankfully, sitting down on a large log. After a few minutes, his foot began throbbing,and Eddie winced in pain. The others, who were deep in conversation, were oblivious to it.
“Aw shit. My soulmate must be having to sit down right now. I hate that,” Eddie said, and the others comforted him. So this is what having a group of friends is like, he thought to himself, pulling out some of his pills and taking them swiftly.

“So I’ve been thinking about how I need to get a job,” Eddie stated while relaxing against a log. Just you know, to be able to get some new stuff I dunno. I only get like a couple dollars from my Mom a week,” He shrugged and Ben sat up quickly.

“The Diner is looking for a server!” Ben said, and everyone sat up and exclaimed happily nodding and speaking at the same time.
“The d-diner is one of o-our main hangouts,” Bill stated and Eddie slowly nodded, understanding their excitement.
“We would be able to see you all the time then!” Beverly added and everyone nods, staring at Eddie.
“I guess I could fill out an application form..” he mumbles, looking at Ben, who agrees enthusiastically and tells Eddie he will collect one for him on the way to school tomorrow. Settling down once again, Stan glances at his watch, standing up.

“Gotta go guys it’s 7pm, see you tomorrow?” The Losers wave goodbye and slowly between the next half hour depart slowly, Mike next, then Eddie and Bill, and finally Ben and Beverly. It was a good day they mutually agreed.

~
Eddie got to school that morning with a spring in his step.
He and Ben had gone to the diner earlier to fill out an application form, but it turned out that they were pretty desperate for waiters, and he got the job right away. The lady at the counter was old and grey, She sagged in every place on her body and Eddie had to refrain from gagging when she reached out her old hand to him. He had rushed out quickly out as soon as he was given the information he needed. As they had some time to spare, Ben and Eddie had walked around town for a bit enjoying the warming calm of the quiet town. Ben talked a bit about the history of some parts and Eddie learned a lot about the losers. Ben told him about all the great memories they had and Eddie couldn’t help feeling slightly jealous of their freedom to wander the town during the holidays and explore different unknown places.

When they got to school a mere twenty minutes later, Eddie felt like he knew the Losers more than he already did after learning about their childhoods. Eddie pushed the sad thought to the back of his mind that Richie still wasn’t in school. Hey, he was curious to who this guy was!

At lunch, they sat outside due to the nice weather and talked more about one another. So much so, that when the final bell rang at four, Eddie felt like he had know them for years.

At around six that evening, Eddie told his mother about his new job and lets just say.. she did not react so well. His first shift was on Saturday and Eddie would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited. The weekend just couldn’t come any faster.

~

On Saturday morning, Eddie woke up early so he could be get ready for his shift. It started at 5pm and lasted till 9pm. He had gone back to the diner back after school on Thursday to get his uniform and time table. Back in New York, Eddie had worked briefly at popcorn stall on the side of a road but it was too disgusting for him and left after a week. He had dealt with many disgusting customers who always had something to complain about, and he was on his feet all day and never had a chance to even sit down. The lunchtime rush was the worst, as his boss placed him on a very busy street corner that had hundreds of people searching for food.

At around two, Eddie sat down with his mother to a healthy lunch that she had cooked for him. She claimed that all this working in a diner was going to “Make him fat and unhealthy and more likely to get a disease”. Eddie brushed her off, as he knew it was just her final attempt to get him to quit and stay home with her for the rest of his life.

The lunch was positively awkward but when wasn’t it? Eddie thought, as he washed the dishes.
As five o’clock approached, Eddie left wearing his brightly coloured 80s uniform that matched the style of the diner. He had combed his hair back nicely and ditched the fanny pack on his bed, shoving his inhaler in one of the small pockets of his apron. He unlocked his bike and pedaled straight to the diner not caring that he was going to be incredibly early. He had always took extra caution with his bike, as his mother filled up his head with all sorts of nonsense about it so that he wouldn’t ask for one growing up. When he found out about all the lies she told to “protect” him, he stopped listening to the small voice in his mind of his mother telling him what to do. It is now just a quiet nag he can block out.

As the sun started to set, Eddie arrived at the diner eager to begin. There was a girl sitting behind the counter filing her nails. The restaurant was empty apart from a group of little kids and a seemingly stressed out mother.
“Hi,” Eddie mumbled, walking up to the girl. “I’m Eddie Kaspbrak, and this is my first day,” he spoke, now with a bit more confidence.
“Ah yes!” She looked up. She had blackish-blue eyeshadow smeared along her eyelids and a sparkly dark coloured gloss coating her lips. Eddie shivered remembering his first kiss. “Eddie! Hey! Oh my god it’s Vee from class remember?”

Eddie smiled wide at the girl and they began to talk, catching up like they hadn’t seen each other in years. But Eddie did need to learn how to do his job, so after ten minutes they actually began to work.

Vee showed Eddie how to run the till, serve customers and gave him some ways to gain more tips. He had to learn the menu and the prices. It was a lot of work but he was enjoying himself so far. Eddie almost totally forgot he was working, until the door swung open and another family walked in. Vee patted him on the back and told him to have a go at serving them.

“Hello! My name’s Eddie and I’m your server today. How can I help you?” he asked the customers, noting down their orders on the pad and stepping back behind the counter to hand it in.
“Oh my god Eddie! That was so good! You’re a natural!” Vee praised, and Eddie blushed red.
“Nah, I just did what you told me to do.” He grinned as the door opened again. Mike, Beverly, Stan, Ben, Bill and someone else walked in and took a seat in the corner booth, smiling and waving at Eddie.

“Hey guys!” Eddie said, as he arrived at the table.
“Eddie!” Bill spoke, smiling from ear to ear.
“How’s the job going?” Ben asked.
“Good, good. I think I’m getting the hang of it-” Eddie stopped when he locked eyes with the sixth boy at the end of the table. His mouth was hanging open, eyes glazed. He shook his head and snapped out of it standing up. Eddie looked around the table, only to see the others rolling their eyes, Stan with his head in his hands, and Beverly groaning. Mike mouthed ‘sorry’ to Eddie, who furrowed his brows in confusion. But he didn’t have any time to mouth anything back as his attention was brought to the boy who was now standing beside him.

“Eddie, from the moment I saw you thirty seconds ago I knew you would be the man to make an honest man of me, I love you Eddie second-name and I would love to be your second Husband,” said the boy, grinning cheekily.
He got down on one knee and Stan banged his head on the table groaning. “Richie, sit the fuck down,” he growled, while the rest of the Losers just sat there in shock.

“Eddie will you marry me?” the boy asked, pulling out a onion ring from behind his back and offering it to Eddie who was still standing there.

“Um. No? Wait, what happened to my first husband?” Eddie spoke, hoping to out smart the boy on the floor with a dirty crisp looking at him. He didn’t think it would be very hard.

“Nothing you can prove,” Richie scoffed, before standing up and brushing himself off. “Eh, it was worth a shot, gotta get the cuties like you before anyone else does.” He threw Eddie a wink which took Eddie off guard, and left him standing there, pink-cheeked and shocked.

“Um, O-okay” Eddie stuttered, mentally kicking himself for being such an idiot. He coughed to clear his throat and spoke clearly just as Vee had showed him to. “Hi, my name’s Eddie and I’ll be your server today. What can I get you?” Eddie grinned stupidly at his friends and turned his head towards Bill who gave him a thumbs up.

“Can we get,” the tall boy at the end of the table spoke nodding at the others, “Three cheeseburgers, two hotdogs, a regular burger and a large portion of chips for the table.” Richie recited the order so quickly and perfectly that it actually shocked him.

“And drinks?” Eddie asked, waiting pen in hand for the next wave of writing.

“Can we get three cokes, one fanta for Stan the Man, one Pepsi for Haystack and one large strawberry milkshake for the sex god?” Richie ordered, and Eddie choked on his tongue at the last note. He quickly got over it and scribbled it down. An idea sparked in his head and his repeated the order back to them checking he got everything. When he got to the drinks he repeated exactly was Richie had said except at the end he said,,
“And one large strawberry milkshake for the trashmouth.”

The Losers oohed and Eddie heard someone say “Trashmouth! Why hadn’t we thought of that?”

Eddie was chuckling to himself, and before he said goodbye and gave in the order he made a quick eye contact with Richie who just winked at him. Eddie’s entire body turned bright red. and he shouted a quick “bye!” to the group before jogging into the kitchen and letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in.

Eddie had a few seconds of happiness and joy before reality settled in.
“Richie sit the fuck down” he remembered Stan saying.
Did Stan say Richie?
Please tell me he didn’t say Richie.
Oh fuck oh fuck.
Did he just get a proposal from THE Richie.
THE Richie he’d been told to avoid.
Did he just.. Joke around with him?
Shit.

~

Eddie eventually got back up from the ground of the tiny break area in the back after a table number was being called and it was his first time delivering food to table. Luckily (or un-luckily) it was The Losers Clubs table and so they didn’t mind that Eddie was unpracticed and extra careful with the drinks. He remembered who ordered what and managed to get everyone the right drinks. The bell in the kitchen was going off which meant their food was most likely ready as there was only two other people in the diner and they both had their food. Eddie rushed over and took as many plates as he could handle. They were very patient and in fact they even cheered him on and clapped him on the back when he managed to carry all the plates over without dropping one.

Eddie felt a feeling of pride wash over him but it didn’t last long once again as a large group entered and took a seat, followed by five minutes later another group and later a couple. Eddie believed that this was the Saturday night rush Vee warned him about.

A hand fell on his shoulder. “Don’t panic Eddie you’ll be fine!” Vee said to him.

An hour passed and it was the end of Eddie’s shift. The Losers said that they would wait for him outside and they could hang out for a bit before Eddie’s curfew of 11. Eddie had begged and begged his mother for a later curfew and promised he would stick to it if she turned it for 10 to 11. She, after a lot of convincing, gave in and he is yet to break his promise.

The cool air slapped him hard in the face and brought attention to the small balls of sweat on his forehead, the last hour had been the most running around he’s done in months and Eddie was extremely tired after it all. As promised the others were waiting outside on a nearby bench. They were huddled together to fit as many people as possible but Richie and Ben were standing up talking. Richie spotted Eddie and gave him a dazzling smile winking at him before turning round again. Eddie felt like his heart fell to his feet, god was Richie gorgeous but there was no way he was getting involved with him after all the warnings he got.

Beverly smiled at him a gestured him over. He strolled over there and was greeted nicely by the others, Richie didn’t say anything.
“We were going to go to the arcade if you wanna come Eddie?” Stan asked standing up and stretching lightly.
“Sure.” Eddie responded.

~

“Eddie, Eds, Edward, Eddie-spaghetti, spaghetti man, Ed the man.” Richie mumbled to himself, loud enough for everyone to snigger at, all except Eddie.
“Stop it.” Eddie spoke sternly, trying hard to ignore the boy. Richie shook his head.
“Nope, this cutie pie has gotta had a cute name to match your face.” he winked and Stan and Bill exchanged a look.
“Leave the boy alone Richie.” Mike tutted wrapping his arm around Eddie’s shoulders. Eddie’s brain suddenly clicked and he realised how touch starved he really is. He walked face blank trying to remember the last time his mother touched him, gave him a hug, even patted him on the shoulder. He couldn’t remember.

Eddie nuzzled into the touch, resting his head on Mike’s sturdy shoulder. Bill and Stan were standing to the left of him walking arm in arm like two young girls. Ben and Beverly walked together also to Eddie’s right in the same position as Eddie and Mike. Richie stood not too far behind the two boys in the middle and Eddie could feel his heavy gaze tracing his back.

Eddie whipped his head around and caught Richie red handed staring at the other boys head. He furrowed his eyebrows and gave him a death stare before turning back round again and continuing his conversation with Ben.

As soon as Ben and Beverly walked back over to their original spot on the pavement away from Eddie and Mike, who had now seperated, Richie swooped in like a hawk and aggressively swung his arm round the boy.

“Had any good chucks lately Eds?” He asked and caught Beverly’s eyes but ignored the look of ‘I told you so’ hidden in them.
“Don’t. Call me that dick.” Eddie responded as quick as a lighting. Little did he know that this is what made Richie’s heart decide that Eddie was the one he was going to annoy for the rest of his life whether or not Eddie agreed. Richie just stood there in the dark night, the arcade not too far in the distance for a few seconds before shaking it off and ignoring him.

The lights in the distance got brighter and brighter with every step making it harder and harder to see without squinting. Eddie was probably just exaggerating it though as when they stepped into the old arcade Eddie could see perfectly fine. The first thing Eddie saw was a claw machine with brightly coloured teddy bears in it. Eddie being as smart as he was knew the impossible chance of ever winning a toy and swiftly moved on. Eddie pulled a couple coins out of his bag and inserted them into the Mrs Pacman game. Eddie played until he died which was a surprisingly long time. One by one the losers had gathered round to watch and Ben could see the concentration in Eddie’s eyes. Everyone clapped when Eddie finally died patting him on the back saying ‘You’re so good!’ and ‘You were so close!”. Eddie thanked them and noticed that Richie was nowhere to be seen.

After a few minutes of searching Eddie found him by the entrance focusing hard on the game. His tongue was poking out his mouth and Eddie couldn’t help but smile at the situation. He turned away and spotted a bench. Eddie sat down and sighed out of tiredness, it had been a long day. Richie cheered and Eddie jumped upright.

The rest of the Losers gathered round quickly and Richie held up his accomplishment. A giant teddy holding a strawberry which if you held up on its feet would be as tall as Richie himself. Eddie moved forward to inspect it stroking it with one hand the rest of his body leaning back not wanting to touch it more than he already was. Just as Eddie suspected it was made out of the cheap plasticy material which made his toes curl. He moved back to his space and made eye contact with a smug Richie, who wiggled his eyebrows before breaking into a contagious grin which Eddie tried to hard to fight. He bit his lips as the started curving into a smirk which made Richie more smug if that was even possible. The others chatting around them were ignorant of the moment between them. Bill swore loudly and everyone turned their attention to him.

“S-shit, I gotta be h-home in 10, can you w-walk back Bev?” He asked the redheaded girl who was now inspecting the toy. She nodded and swung her backpack onto her back.
“Bye guys!” She spoke clearly giving Richie, who was closest, a firm hug. “I’ll see you on Monday I’m visiting my aunt tomorrow.”
The others waved her and Bill off who just mumbled something to Stan with his kiss on the cheek.

Not too long after Eddie decided it was time for him to be heading home, he was exhausted anyway and the hand where he touched the toy felt like it was on fire. He would wash it when he gets home. Richie looked up quickly and sprung to his feet.
“You live on Pensbrook right?” He asked Eddie standing next to him who nodded hesitantly. “Oh cool I live on the road over, wanna walk?”
“No” Eddie thought but he had already said “Yes” and regretted it instantly.
“Lemme grab my shit Eds and then we can go.” Richie turned around and grabbed the bear who was sitting upright on the bench.
“Don’t call me Eds.” Eddie said “You know how much I hate it.” He pouted. Richie ignored him and high fived Ben and Mike. (He offered it to Stan but he just rolled his eyes at the boy).
“Bye fuckers! Come on Eddie,” Richie grabbed his small hand and yanked him out the door onto the surprisingly warm street lit up by merely two street lamps.

Richie instantly started babbling about something unimportant and Eddie zoned out watching the boy. Every few sentences Richie would rake back his black locks and glance to the side to see if Eddie was still listening. Eddie wondered if he was dreaming or if he was just extremely tired but Richie was fucking adorable. Richie had stopped speaking and was staring right at Eddie with his mouth hanging open. It was definitely the lack of sleep then as to Eddies horror he said that outloud. Eddie facepalmed wanting to drop dead there and then but Richie started to laugh. At first it was slow chuckles but it developed into screaming laughing.

“Wow Eds,” He said in between staggering breaths, “you really are fucking tired.”
Eddie began to giggle a little but seeing his house up ahead cut his breath short. The walk with Richie took longer than expected and he was around 15 minutes late. His mother if he was lucky would be so occupied with her television that she had also forgotten about the time.

“This is me,” Eddie spoke stopping outside his house. “Thanks for walking me back.” Eddie was not so lucky as the door opened revealing his mother.
“Eddie-bear? Is that you?” She croaked. Richie glanced at her for a millisecond before looking back at Eddie.
“Quite alright my dearest Eddie-bear.” Richie spoke with a failed English accent. “Holy shit that’s it!”
“What is?”
“The name of my teddy bear! Eddie-bear!” Richie cried out happily. Eddie groaned but didn’t object.
“Bye Richie.” Eddie spoke already walking away. Richie smiled at the back of the boy and mumbled a goodnight that Eddie caught in the wind.

Eddie got to his doorstep before he looked back at Richie who was beginning to walk away. Eddie waved a little and he just grinned that stupid grin back at him. When Eddie turned around again Sonia was standing right next to him frowning.

“You’re late eddie-bear, I thought you were dead!” She cried out wrapping him in an suffocating hug. “I was just about to call the police! Who was that? Why did they drop you home?”

Eddie just sighed and walked into the house. He thought a long moment before answering. “That’s one of my new friends.” He spoke calmly.
“New friends? Oh no Eddie darling I liked it better when you hung out with me! I don’t like you having, dirty friends.” She glanced at the door with a expression Eddie couldn’t quite place. The thought of all the germs on them made Eddie shiver and twitch but he shook it off after realising that this is exactly what she wants him to feel, so he’ll come crawling back into her arms. That wasn’t going to happen, at least not on his watch.

“I’m getting a bit tired Mommy, I think I’ll head to bed now.” He stated and left for upstairs before she could respond. When Eddie entered his room he let out a loud sob. He hated the way she had control over him by just saying the simplest thing, now all he could think of was the bugs crawling over the Losers, spreading and duplicating over and over again until their entire body was taken over. He rushed into the bathroom and vomited into the toilet, letting out all the food he had eaten in the past 24 hours. Eddie shivered on the bathroom floor and after a long time he pulled himself up. He stripped and switched the shower on, climbing in after a few seconds.

The water cleansed his body and Eddie could feel the germs washing away with every minute he spent standing there. Not that Eddie would know this but when Mrs Kaspbrak heard the water running and her son puking she smiled to herself, yet again she had won and soon Eddie would come back to being her good little boy who doesn’t have a job and his only friend is his Mommy. “Yes”, she thought, “that will do nicely.”

~

Eddie woke up to the sound of the loud hoover coming from down the stairs. He sat up abruptly and instantly fell back down again as his head throbbed hard against his skull. He groaned and pulled himself up just remembering the horrible events of last night whilst entering the bathroom. He swung open the cabinet and pulled out some painkillers and downing them dry. The hoover slowed to a stop as Eddie sat back down cross-legged on his bed.
“Eddie-bear?” He heard his mother yelling from downstairs “I’m going out to do some chores darling, I’ll be back at 3.”
“Okayyyy!!!” Eddie yelled downstairs and a few seconds later he heard the front door slam shut. He let out a sigh of relief and stood by his window to make sure his mother left. She did and he got changed into a pastel jumper and black skinny jeans he bought last weekend with the money his mother gave him for some pills, he was feeling risky (and would change out of them before his mother came home, god forbid she ever found out.) Eddie thought giggling as a new idea sprung into his head.

He went into the corner of his room where a pile of blankets laid minding their own business. Eddie yanked them all off the box they were hiding and picked it up with immense struggle, he had forgot how heavy it was. Lugging it onto the comfortable mattress (“Only the best of my Eddie! We don’t want you getting a bad back, and this one’s doctor approved!”) Eddie shuddered at the memory but continued anyway. He reached into the brown box and pulled out an old radio, it was his fathers from years ago.

When Eddies mother started to throw out all of his fathers things he grabbed an empty box he found and shoved whatever he could into it before his mother returned in a minute. The radio and his fathers photo books were first in the box as they were important to his dad. Anything else he just blindly grabbed. He found some batteries downstairs and slotted them in, a sudden static noise came out loudly and Eddie winced. He turned the volume down and twisted the knob to try find a music channel. Just to his luck a loud rock song started to blast out and Eddie loved it. He started head thrashing like he had seen in movies he watched at his old friends house when he was about seven.

The music slowed to a stop and the radio star started chatting about some pop star Eddie had obviously never heard of when he heard a strange noise coming from outside. He quieted the radio and listened intently. But the sound was gone. Eddie shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and turned the music back up, jumping about, quickly learning the simple chorus and belting it out near the end of the song. In the slit second the music switched to the next song Eddie heard the noise again and this time turned the radio off completely. He could still hear it, and it was coming from outside. It seemed as it got further and further away until Eddie couldn’t hear it once again. But he didn’t move, determined to find the source of the bizarre sound. Eddie turned the radio on and turned the music to the lowest setting, walking towards the window, and as soon as the road out the front of his house was seen he saw the creator of the noise.

Richie Tozier sat on a wall opposite the Kaspbrak household too scared to knock. He had skated up and down the road passing the house on purpose more times then he could count just in the hope Eddie would see him, and too his horror it had worked just as he was about to give up.

When Richie and Eddie made eye contact Eddie saw Richie smirk and so he crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. Richie saw this as a challenge and picked up his trashy skateboard off the ground and started pushing himself up the slight hill. When he got far enough that Eddie could see him but he could still get a good speed Richie shot off down the hill. As if it was fate the radio stations started to play ‘Eye of the tiger’ and Eddie felt like it was a moment in a film.

Richie shot down and did some sort of spin-flip-land trick directly in front of Eddie’s front door, timed to perfection. When Richie landed safely on the road Eddie let out a shaky breath and kept watching.

Out of the corner of his eye Richie could see Eddie’s gobsmacked expression gazing out the window and this set a fire in his stomach to impress him, woo him with his skating tricks. He did an Ollie followed by a inward heel flip and landed them both perfectly.

Every. Single. Time. Richie did a trick Eddie waited for the fall and it never came. At least for not another twenty seconds. Richie made yet again a smug eye contact with Eddie and thought it was time to take on a harder task, to really impress the boy. He sped forward and prepared himself for the jump, but it never came. Richie just kept skating on, and he was baffled on how he just chickened out, perhaps it was the fact that this ground was much harder than the one he practiced on, or maybe he just wasn’t ready. Deep in thought he didn’t see the massive pothole he had been avoiding all day to the right of Eddie’s house, and he hit it straight on throwing him into the air.

Eddie gasped loudly as he banged on the window screaming “POTHOLE POTHOLE!!!” but Richie didn’t hear and fell down onto his hip and knee. Eddie rushed down the stairs ignoring the sympathy pain he felt in the exact same places, a horrible pain which brought tears to his dry eyes. Swinging open the front door Eddie limped over to Richie as fast as he could. Richie was propping himself up on his elbows, his eyelids glued shut.

“Richie? Richie?” Eddie said poking the boy “Richie wake the fuck up before I fucking have an asthma attack.”
Richie groaned and Eddie winced at the pain in his left ankle, he must have landed his foot wrong when he rushed down the stairs.
“My ankleeee.” Richie groaned trying to stand up but just falling down again. Eddie yanked him up and Richie put all of his weight on the small boy. Eddie stumbled back but managed to stabilise himself and keep the boy on his feet.

“Richie you have to fucking work with me!” Eddie groaned as they both went stumbling again trying to get off the road. Honestly Eddie was surprised when the older boy started to limp-walk and they made it to the curb in a couple of seconds. Now, stepping was difficult but they did a little hop, jump thing and it worked, they were so close now so Eddie started to smile a bit in accomplishment. This was his body’s cue for his ankle to land wrong and his whole body (and Richie’s) landed on the floor this a sharp thud. They were both moaning in pain and Richie hopped back to the house with Eddie by his side. They made it to the kitchen before collapsing onto the floor and Eddie grabbed a spare inhaler off the side and puffed as much as his lungs could handle. The pain was flowing in and out of both of them and in a minute of no pain Eddie speed walked upstairs and brought down a large medical kit slamming it on the table. Richie was sitting with Eddie’s inhaler an inch away from his lips already slightly pushing down the trigger.

Eddie smacked it out of his hand with a firm ‘No.’ and pulled up a chair strangely close to Richie. Richie’s heartbeat quickened as he watched Eddie slowly pick up the contents he would need for the cut on his side. His tongue stuck out slightly and Richie couldn’t stop staring.
“Now, this is going to string for a could seconds but it was make sure you don’t get an infection.” Eddie spoke clearly, Richie was sure that his Eddie put his mind to it he could be a famous doctor. “Lift up your shirt?” Eddie asked and Richie giggled a little.
“Jeez Eds at least take me to dinner first.” He spoke but lifting his shirt anyway revealing a large bruise already forming and a few small cuts. Eddie placed the cotton ball on Richie’s skin and Richie hissed. Eddie dropped the cotton ball onto the floor and looked up at the boy.

“What?” Richie asked.
“N-n-nothing.” Eddie stuttered, picking it up off the floor and placing it in the nearby bin. He soaked a fresh one and pulled up Richie’s long shorts above to knee where the other cut lay. Eddie placed to on and began to dab but he didn’t do very much before they were both wincing in pain.
“I get why I’m in pain but, why are you?” Richie asked looking Eddie in the eyes. Eddie didn’t say something he just looked down at his arm and got his other hand to pinch it softly. Richie raised his hand to touch his arm never breaking eye contact.

“Holy- holy shit Eds.” Riche stumbled unsure of whether or not this was a prank or something. “D-does this mean that we’re..” Eddie looked at the floor and bit his lip. It felt like only a few moments ago he was dancing in his room. Everything had gone so quickly. ‘Fuck it’ he thought and looked up.

“Don’t call me Eds” He spoke quietly before grabbing Richie’s t-shirt and pulling him towards him slamming their lips together. Richie was completely and utterly shocked and took a couple seconds for his brain to realise that EDDIE WAS FUCKING KISSING HIM AND HE SHOULD KISS BACK. He came to his senses and kissed back, harder but softer at the same time. Eddie never believed in the whole ‘it felt like I was flying!’ bullshit but holy shit was he on top of the world. The kiss was messy and sloppy and Richie’s glasses kept hitting Eddies face quite hard but to them it was perfect. Completely and utterly perfect.

They broke apart after what seemed like a lifetime both gasping for air but neither of them stopped smiling as wide as their mouths could.
“Well Eds, that was jus’ dandy ma dear” Richie spoke receiving a well deserved slap from the boy opposite him.
“Richhh way to ruin the moment you dickwad!” Eddie giggled, and god could Richie listen to that laugh for the rest of his life, and he was going to.
“So we had a moment?” Richie smirked trying not to burst out laughing at Eddie who had a angry expression that Richie just wanted to kiss off.
Wait a minute, he could.

It was hard for Eddie to kick Richie out a mere twenty minutes later of just making out but he couldn’t have his mother come home to find him and Richie together. Eddie didn’t know what his mother would do but he knew well enough that he didn’t want to find out. It was two o’clock now, still an hour till his mother came home but cleaning up Richie had made quite a mess and he needed to put everything back in the correct place or his mother would notice straight away. Eddie walked Richie downstairs, Richie’s arm swivelled around his waist because “My ankle is still really hurting Dr K!” With anyone else Eddie would pick a fight but he honestly really liked the feeling of Richie so close next to him. Eddie thought to himself.
‘If this was a regular high school romance we would have just held hands by now, but this isn’t a regular crush, we’re soulmates.’
Eddie smiled crazily and glanced over at the tall boy who was staring right back. Richie let go of Eddie and pinched his cheeks with one hand.
“Cute! Cute! Cute!” He said pecking him on the cheek and smiling. Eddie felt more loved than he had ever in his entire life. He had friends, he had found his soulmate, he didn’t even care about how many germs were on him from kissing because they were Richie’s germs. (The thought still made him squirm but not as much as usual) Everything was great and his mother didn’t know a thing-
Eddie and Richie froze. A car pulled up the drive and they made a brief eye contact before bolting upstairs into Eddie’s room.

“Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck.” Eddie paced around the room and glancing out the window to see his mother with bags full of groceries.
“Wow Eds if I knew all I had to do was get your mom to come home to get into your room I would have done that ages ago.” Richie joked but Eddie just unlocked the window.
“You’re climbing you the window.” He said looking out to see how far the drop was. “I think if you drop a little you can grab onto that pipe and slide down, I’m sorry but there’s no other way.” He told, looking worried.
“Hey Eddie, it’s cool babes, I got this.” This made Eddie feel a bit more secure but didn’t take all his nerves away.

“Eddie-bear I’m homeee!” His mother called upstairs and Eddie hear her waddling upstairs at a slow pace, they had 30 seconds till she would burst into the room.
“Go now!” He hissed and Richie climbed out onto the ledge turning round quickly and kissing Eddie as quick as he could.
“Bye babes.” He winked and dropped down to the pipe just as Eddie’s mother burst in exactly on time.
“Hello Mummy.” Eddie said sweetly before sliding the window shut and spotting the boy who was now on the grass. Eddie’s ankle and side throbbed but they both smiled at each other anyway. Richie then winked and took off grabbing his skateboard which was standing up by the side on the house. And rode down the road till he was out of site, a grin still on his face.

~

“Hold up, hold up,” Vee said “You kissed? Holy shi- YOU’RE SO LUCKY! I can’t believe you found your soulmate, I’m so jealous.” Eddie couldn’t help but grin even though he tried to fight it off. It had been a two days but it still felt like it was just a few moments ago. Eddie explained this to Vee and halfway though she squealed loudly.
“Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god.” She hissed to Eddie who was unaware of the tall boy standing behind him.
“Eds!” Richie cried “Had any good chucks lately?” He said pinching Eddies cheeks.
“Don’t call me that!” Eddie groaned and Richie took a seat in a booth.

Eddie turned back around to Vee who was staring at him with a cheeky grin.
“Whatever you have planned stop it right now, right now!” Eddie said knowing that whatever she said he was going to go along with because he just couldn’t say no to Vee.

In the two days since Richie hurt himself nothing had happened. Eddie arrived at school on Monday and expected Richie to be clingy and telling anyone and everyone he could about them but he was same old Richie. They only got a moment of privacy and Richie told Eds that he didn’t want to tell the losers yet because they had only known each other a little while they didn’t want them judging them. Eddie said that that was what he was thinking too and he had to act normal when Richie grabbed his hand under the lunch table or squeezed himself practically on top of the small boy when there ‘wasn’t enough space’.

“Well would you look at that, your shifts over!” Vee spoke grabbing the boys bag.
“What do you mean I still have an hour-” Eddie tried to say before getting interrupted.
“Would you look at that, isn’t that Richie? Why don’t you sit with him!” She continued handing Eddie his bag.
“But-”
“WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT.” Vee shouted and gave Eddie a big shove in the direction of the far booth. Richie spotted Eddie and beamed at him and so Eddie knew there was no going back. Vee winked from behind the counter.

“Here to take my order Eddie- spaghetti?” Richie asked, his glasses slowly falling down the bridge of his nose.
“N-no.” Eddie said glaring at Vee, “My shifts over.”
“Well tip and tally ho my good fella! I do say this man requires the best of servers! Vee be a dawl and bring me and this cutie a menu will ya?” Richie chanted loudly across the room getting Vee’s attention who happily brought them a menu Eddie quickly hid behind. This didn’t really help his situation though as it gave Vee and Richie a few seconds to exchange looks. Vee winked and Richie finger gunned back making a clicking noise with his tongue. Eddie sank further into his seat.

Richie didn’t even look at the menus and ordered two large strawberry milkshakes and some fires to share. Eddie blushed at the ‘to share’.

The milkshakes and fries arrived and Eddie took a fry to nibble on. The soft potato melted on his tongue and he moaned accidentally. Richie laughed and shoved a couple of the fries in his mouth also closing his eyes at the goodness. The milkshake was massive with whipped cream, sprinkles and a cherry on top. Eddie had never seen one look like that before, like it was straight out of a movie. He took a sip and it was just as good as the fries but somehow better. It was just the right mixture of strawberries, ice-cream and cream. Eddie looked up at Richie who was staring right back. Richie picked up the menu and stood it up on the table ‘Just like in the movies!’ Eddie thought so he and Richie could have some ‘alone time’.

“Ugh I miss you.” Richie started flashing Eddie his crooked smile which made his heart glow. Eddie pinched his arm and Richie pinched back, they both smiled even more. Richie leaned forward, his breath smelling like strawberry and nicotine. Eddie gave him a quick peck on the lips and leaned back in his seat which earned a frown from Richie. He pushed up his glasses and cocked his head like a puppy.

“Why’d you do that?” Richie asked and Eddie looked up over the menu at Vee who was sitting in the booth opposite them grinning like crazy. She mumbled sorry and waddled away while mouthing ‘SO CUTE!’ to them both.

Eddie looked over at Richie who was blushing slightly on his cheeks and neck. He noticed how his freckles creeped up his nose and down his neck and how his ears stuck up ever-so slightly from his mess of wild black curls. Eddie couldn’t resist and he tucked a large piece of Richie’s hair behind his ear. Richie thought that this was the cutest thing anyone had ever done to him and felt the need to crack a joke or kiss him to take the attention off his blushing face.

“Knock knock.” Riche spoke softly gazing into Eddie’s eyes.
“Who’s there?” Eddie asked.
“Mr hmff-” Richie’s joke was cut off by Eddie’s lips and all that was going through his mind was the fact that Eddie just ruined a great joke. I’m kidding! All that was going through his mind was the taste of Eddie’s soft lips and the traces of strawberry milkshake and fries which lingered there. Eddie pulled back and noticed how Richie’s feet had gotten tangled in his and their legs were wrapped around each other like snakes, but he didn’t mind, not one bit.

“My Hmff who?” Eddie beamed imitating the noise Richie had made.
“Hmff you glad to see me?” Richie responded and Eddie laughed.
“That was terrible! Was there nothing you could think of-” Eddie stopped laughing.

His mother stood in the doorway of the diner, and she had a perfect view of the scene that just went on. Eddie didn’t know how long she had been standing there but by the look on her face it was been long enough. She stormed over to the table and grabbed Eddie by the wrist. Eddie gave Richie a look of sorrow that Richie hoped he would never have to see again, as in between the lines a look of doubt said that that might have been their last moments together.

Eddie’s mother dragged him out and Vee ran forward to try stop her but Eddie just shook his head. There was no point.

The car ride back was the most awful thing Eddie had ever experienced in his entire life. Sonia just sobbed repeating ‘Where did I go wrong, where!’ until the pulled into his driveway. Eddie held back his cries and tried to look as her crying didn’t affect him in anyway. She stormed into the house and sent him up to his room. Eddie tried to say something but she just screamed at him and so he did as he was told. When Eddie entered his room he couldn’t hold in the tears anymore and they came out like a flood of water. He cried until he had nothing more to let out and he just laid there, eyes dry and face red. After sadness came anger and Eddie realised how much he hated his mother. He hated her, if he told anyone this they would probably go ‘Well you’re a teenager, you’ll get over it and laugh about it in years to come!’ Which to most families is true but Eddie knew that once he escaped her he was never coming back. She had too much power over him. She could say a single word and Eddie would break down. She was clever Sonia, much more clever than Eddie thought she was. She knew exactly how she could control him and make him do what she wanted. Not that Eddie knew this of course.

Merely an hour later Sonia Kaspbrak walked up the stairs to her son’s room with dusty grey hair and dark, unforgiving eyes. When she entered the room Eddie was on the bed reading. The first thing he noticed was the look of evil under all the layers of his mothers fake care.

“Eddie-bear, you know I love you right? But I will not except this under my roof, it is a phase darling and I will help you move on and find a nice girl to marry, I’ve even messaged my friends daughter Myra, she’s more than happy to date you Eddie! Isn’t that exciting!” Sonia met Eddies cold stare and knew that that wasn’t going to work. She had to do what she had to, to protect her son.

“Eddie, did you know that 1 billion germs get passed over when you kiss someone, twice that when it’s the male gender, you know that Eddie-bear don’t you?” She spoke with an evil tone underneath her fake positive expression.

Eddie swore he could feel the germs crawling up his arms and into his mouth, he could feel them. But he suddenly realised that this is what she wanted, he was scared, he was under his power. She had the control, but not anymore.

“That’s not true mother.” He spoke, his mouth turning upwards into a sort of smile, “That’s just bullshit and you know it, you can’t get into my head. I’ve know my pills were gazebos since I as 13 Sonia, you have no power over me now. I want you to leave.”

“But I-”

“Get out. Now.”

Sonia Kaspbrak looked at her son for the final time and left the room. As soon as she left it felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, it was like the dark present that had been hanging over his life had gone. It felt as if he was finally free from his mother, and it felt good.

As if a lightbulb went off above his head Eddie jumped up and opened his desk draw and grabbed the broken house phone they used to have downstairs. His mother let him keep it as Eddie thought it would be easy to fix, and he was right.

It took an hour for Eddie to work out what was wrong but after that it only took ten for him to fix it. Eddie plugged it into the wall and smiled. He picked up the phone and squealed when he heard the familiar dial tone. The only number he had was Vee’s, who had written it on his arm that morning incase ‘anything Reddie happens you call me first!’ Eddie sob/laughed and dialed the number. It ringed and Eddie felt immense comfort when he heard her soft voice.

“This is Vee who might this be?” She spoke.
“It’s me, Eddie.” He replied and her response plastered a smile on his face.
“EDDIE OH MY GOD GUYS IT’S EDDIE! ARE YOU OKAY OH MY GOD!”
“Vee I’m fine I’m fine! Who’s there?” Eddie asked whilst laughing.
“The whole Losers club!” She said and Eddie couldn’t help but blush a little at the fact that they all were there for him.
“I’m fine, I stood up to my mother for the first time and I feel great.” And truly, Eddie did. “Can I speak to Richie?” Eddie mumbled hoping Vee wouldn’t tell all the losers what he had said, he assumed Richie had had to tell them what was going on.
“RICHIE, EY RICH EDDIE WANTS TO TALK TO YOU.” Vee shouted, there goes their secrecy.
“Eddie!” Richie squealed
“Rich! I’m so happy to hear your voice,”
“I’ll come see you tonight so keep your window unlocked Eds.” He stated and Richie could hear Eddie smiling through the phone. Richie and Eddie both savored the quiet moment they had.
“You gave us a right scare Eds, everyone was super panicked, the losers really like you.” Richie said, whispering the last bit. Eddie didn’t say anything because nothing was needed to be said. They were both happy just listening to the other breathing.
“I probably have to go now Eds.” Richie said sadly.
“Okay,” Eddie spoke, his voice was soft and sweet. “Goodnight Rich.”
“Goodnight Eds.” Richie went to hang up the phone but he heard a little ‘Don’t call me Eds!’ before he could. Richie Tozier smiled a big smile and pinched his leg. A small pinch squeezed back.

An hour or two later stones hit Eddie’s window softly. Sonia had went to sleep shortly after the phone call and Eddie had crawled under his blanket with a book and tried to get lost in another world so he didn’t have to focus on what was going on in his own. Eddie jumped up as soon as he heard them and pushed open his window and looked down. As he told him before Richie was standing directly below. Eddie noticed the moonlight reflection onto his shiny hair and his glasses magnifying his bambi eyes. Richie was wearing blue long shorts and a AC/DC shirt. When they made eye-contact Richie smiled and waved. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was.
“Hey.” Eddie said softly.
“Hey.” Richie replied “You ready?” He asked impatiently.
“Ready for what?” Eddie questioned, very confused.
“Get dressed.” Was all that Richie said and ten minutes later when Eddie threw on an oversized pastel jumper and jogging bottoms Eddie was more confused than ever. Climbing carefully down the pipe, Eddie began to smile. He had no idea what Richie had planned but he was excited nonetheless. Richie grabbed his hand and led him down the dark empty road. They walked down the lines in the middle as they doubted that any cars would be around to run them over.

“Rich you do know that park closes at 9 right?” Eddie spoke loudly as Richie was speed walking ahead.
“Yeah I know.” He replied. Not saying anything more, probably trying to contain the surprise.

Richie’s voice snapped him back into reality and he began to walk up to the gate of the park. There was high walls surrounding most of the park except one bit which in daylight would have been the entrance. That was the hardest way in though as the gate was tall with giant spikes at the top. No way was he climbing that and Eddie knew that Richie would never make him.

“Come on this way Eds.” Richie spoke quietly and Eddie followed him round the side. Richie had a large rucksack hanging down on one shoulder. Eddie’s mother’s voice mumbled in the back of his head how in years that’s going to damage his shoulders and Eddie almost had the urge to tell him to wear it properly. But he resisted.

Richie stopped once they reached the side of the park. Eddie could almost see into it now the wall was lower. There was a large bin placed up against the wall.
“Here’s what you got to do, get onto the bin then swing your leg over the wall. The drops not too far but make sure you bend your knees.” Richie instructed and he went first, pulling himself up onto the bin and then swinging his leg over the wall. Eddie heard Richie swear and Eddie then felt a scratch on his inner thigh. Richie must have knocked it when he pulled himself up.

A couple seconds later Eddie heard a thud and then Richie’s voice. “Your turn now Eds!” He said and even though Eddie couldn’t see him he knew he had a massive smile from ear to ear. His mother was screaming at him in his head for him to get home and never talk to this dirty, dirty boy ever again but he knew that this is what she had made him feel and so he jumped onto the bin not caring about how many germs were crawling all over it. When he pulled himself up onto the higher wall he didn’t think about how many bones he would break if he fell from this height. And when he was preparing himself to jump a what now looked like a very high jump Eddie just looked at Richie on the ground waiting for him and all his leftover thoughts about twisting his ankle and then having to tell his mother how he hurt himself faded away. He trusted Richie.

Eddie landed with another thud and glowed with happiness, he had done it. Richie looked at him with a sly grin on his face and he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pair of large keys.
“I had the keys to the gate the whole time.”
“You what?! Do you know we could have DIED, or-or worse broken our ankle or whack our head and never be able to talk ever again! You absolute di-”
“You felt proud though didn’t you, when you landed?” Richie questioned and Eddie felt his cheeks burn.
“Yeah..” Eddie responded and now he understood why Richie had done it. To challenge him, and for that he was grateful. He met Richie’s eyes and they smiled at each other for a few seconds until Richie walked down the grassy path to a little clearing. He pulled out of his bag a large checkered blanket and laid it on the ground.

“Eddie my dear, we are going to do my favorite activity, stargazing.” Richie said his eyes lighting up.

~

The stars were everywhere and reminded Richie of Eddie’s freckles. He’s been resisting kissing him all night because he wants it to be special in some way.. But had been getting harder and harder as the night passed on. Richie looked over to the boy for the hundredth time to see him sleeping peacefully, the only light on him was the glow of the moonlight with outlined his features. It was getting close to 4am and Richie thought it would be best to wake him and get him back home for around half five. He didn’t want his Mother to wake him up for school and find the window unlocked and Eddie gone. He also wanted the boy to get at least an hours sleep before Monday morning would begin. Shit. Richie had forgotten all about school today.

“Eddie, baby, wake up.” Richie cooed softly. “You gotta get up now.”
“Five more minutessss.” Eddie groaned and Richie poked him.
“Eds, you’re in the middle of a fucking park not in bed get up before the guy comes and we get arrested.” This woke Eddie up and he bolted upright.
“Oh shit what time is it we’re fucked my Mum she’s-”
“Don’t worry,” Richie said placing an arm on Eddie’s shoulder. “I knocked her out for good last night, she won’t be up for hours yet!”
“Beep fucking beep Richie” Eddie said grinning and Richie stood up.
“Come on then.” He said and helped Eddie up. They walked towards the exit of the park slowly and Richie slipped his hand into Eddie’s. Richie tried to ignore the growing blush on Eddies cheeks. It was adorable.

It was about 5:10am when Eddie’s house appeared in the distance. If someone was watching them, they would have seen both their faces sink at the sight of the horrid place Sonia and Eddie called ‘home.’ Richie gave Eddie a boost up the large unforgiving pipe and in a matter of seconds he had made it through the window and into his room. Of course Richie climbed up afterwards and grinned at the boy just as the sun began to rise behind him.
Eddie caught Richie’s cheeky eyes and decided to play along.
“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” Eddie giggled and Richie just kept on grinning. Richie’s eyes flashed down to Eddie’s lips and back up again but Eddie noticed and bit his lip. He took a couple steps forward and bent down to Richie’s loose head sticking through his window. Eddie laughed at the stupidness of the situation. It was 5am and they had just gotten back from breaking into the park and now Eddie was going to kiss him, and so he did.

Richie placed his arms around Eddie’s neck and pulled him so close that it was almost like they could have merged into one person. The kiss was slow and loving, they had both been avoiding the elephant in the room at school and with the others but today had been an exhilarating experience. The quick kiss behind the menu was short but nice but this one, well this one was different. It felt like it was what they had been holding back this past week or two. Eddie broke them apart and began to shove Richie out the window softly. Richie looked and him.

“Parting is such sweet sorrow.” He mumbled and slid quickly down the pipe before blowing Eddie a quick kiss and walking down the street.

Eddie crawled into bed and tried to get some sleep but be could wipe the expression off his face. He was so happy he could have kissed his mother for moving him here. Not that he would by the way, he disliked her to much to even hug her.

~
It was monday, Eddie was in the best mood he had been in since moving here (apart from the first time he saw Richie, or spoke to him, and listened to him talk..) He jumped out of bed with a smile on his face. Last night had left him with a warm feeling in his stomach, it tingled and buzzed. He pulled up his shorts and buttoned up his polo-shirt. Eddie glanced outside and saw that it was raining, he wished the weather reflected his mood but he shrugged of off and grabbed a jumper the Losers (Bill and Mike mainly) had given him as a ‘Welcome to the group’ present. It was a light blue and it had a little rainbow on the breast pocket. He knew it would annoy his mother and he loved it. He skipped down the stairs.

To his surprise, Sonia was sitting at the table sipping a coffee and flicking through a newspaper. When she noticed him when he reached the last step which creaked loudly, Eddie muttered under his breath. Eddie grabbed his bag and hoped she would just let him go. No such luck.

“Eddie-bear! Good news, Myra is coming to dinner tonight!” She smiled at him but he could see through her fake joy.
“Who?” He asked grabbing an apple from the side.
“You know, Sam and Rachel’s daughter from down the road, the one who likes you Eddie!” She mumbled the last part winking at a painfully slow pace. Eddie cringed, he didn’t know what was worse, being set up, being set up by your mother, or being set up with a girl. He didn’t want to find out so he said ‘No’ firmly, hoping she’d back down. Again, no such luck.

“Sorry Eddie, but she’s already agreed.” His mother crossed her arms and frowned. Eddie got an idea and before he could think it over, he had already asked.
“Can I invite a friend?” He spoke.
“No dear.. This is time for you and Myra to bond!”
“I’m not going unless I can bring my friend.” Eddie stood tall and she knew that he wouldn’t back down. Sonia sighed.
“Fine dear.”
“Thanks Mommy!” He said through gritted teeth. Why she was acting like last night didn’t happen he didn’t know. But it was making him nervous. He took a bite of his apple and grabbed his bag and waved his mother goodbye, and left, deep in thought.

~
“You want me to what? I think you’ve gone insane Eddie, a-are you hearing this guys? YOU think I should go! ARE YOU INSANE, SHE’LL EAT ME ALIVE.”
“Richie shut up.” Beverly said rolling her eyes but he was still rambling.
“Rich it won’t be that bad, we just have to fucking rub it right in my mom’s face!”
“IN FRONT OF THIS RANDO GIRL!” Richie yelled and the teacher yelled at him. He mumbled a ‘sorry’ but continued what he was saying. “Eddddieeeee, things are so awkward after I left her for you, this is going to be the worst family dinner ever..”
“Beep beep bitch.” Eddie hissed back and began to work on his project. Richie’s hand snuck under the table and grabbed Eddie’s. He looked up and they met eyes, Richie’s were sharp and hard but they softened as soon as they saw Eddie’s puppy dog eyes.

“Okay fine..” He grumbled but still didn’t let go of his hand. They both worked together on the science work, hands still together till the end of the lesson.

When the bell for lunch rang the two boys separated quickly before anyone saw them holding hands, Derry just wasn’t the place to be doing stuff like that, especially with Henry Bowers still in the school walking up and down the corridors scaring the younger years so they’d know who not to mess with. He had been held back twice now, and by the looks of it he would stay in this hell-hole for yet another year.

Lunch was spent with Mike, Bill and Stan. Ben and Beverly were revising together for a test in the school’s library. Eddie and Richie tried to plot what they were going to do at the dinner to make his mother truly see that he isn’t straight and probably never will be but they couldn’t come up with much. They thought about talking really rudely and saying all these horrible things but Eddie did say that Myra was very nice and he didn’t want her to hate him, so they got rid of that plan. The other one was to talk about all the things Eddie’s mother hates, like the love they share with each other and sloppy shit like that. They thought they if they combined both the ideas together it would make the worst dinner in history. It was going to be great.

The bell rang and Eddie realised that time, does fly when you’re having fun. The losers departed to their lessons all but Eddie and Mike who both had a lesson together. The walked slowly and chatted about some new show to TV that looked good. They both agreed to rush home to watch it and call each other straight after. Eddie zoned out for a minute after he realised how well he was socialising with Mike, and for god’s sake they were going to phone each other, and talk about a show! Eddie had a friend, Eddie had multiple friends, who were nice and not judging like the people in New York. If you had told him only a few months ago that he would have seven friends and one of them would be his boyfriends (or whatever him and Richie are doing they haven’t talked about it yet) he would have laughed in your face. It really made him realise how lonely he was.

In the minute he was spaced out Mike was looking at him, and coughed gently to snap him back into reality. Eddie glanced over at Mike who was waiting as if to say something. They continued walking in silence and the corridors cleared up till they were almost empty.
“So…” Mike started and Eddie already didn’t like this conversation. “You and Richie?” Mike smirked at Eddie’s red cheeks.
“What about me and Richie?” Eddie said, trying to play dumb.
“I knew it, if I’m honest that’s the whole reason I came up to you a couple weeks ago, I wanted to introduce you to Richie.” Eddie nodded slowly. They had practically reached the classroom now but Eddie decided there was still time to say what he wanted to say.

“I really like him Mike, and it’s stupid because he is such an idiot, he is the funniest person I know in the worse way. He knows exactly what he wants and how to get it and even if something bad happens he always works it out. He’s like fruit, and I don’t even know what that means, he just is it. He can be sweet but really not at the same time. He annoys you but you love it. He reminds me of a Strawberry Milkshake. It’s probably because his breath always smells of them and it’s the only thing he drinks but he does. I can’t explain it Mike.”

Eddie let out a breath. Mike was speechless, never has he heard one of Richies many ex-girlfriends talk about the trashmouth himself like that, and somehow, even though it made little to no sense, Eddie’s description of Richie being a strawberry milkshake made so much sense to him. It was like an inside joke the whole group wasn’t aware of. They had reached the classroom and settled down in their seats across the class from each other without saying another word.

~

The doorbell rang at 6 o’clock exactly and Sonia jumped out of her seat to answer it, thinking it was Myra. She swung open the large door with a smile on her face before her eyes settled on a lanky boy in a Nirvana t-shirt and ripped jeans, over the shirt was a tie loosely done up with Pacman all over it. Richie’s glasses were balanced on the tip of his nose as he bowed down holding out a flower that had obviously been picked from Mrs Kaspbrak's rose garden. The vile lady herself stood with a disgusted look on her large face. She was stood face to face with the boy her precious son had been kissing, and he was wearing ripped jeans and a tie over a t-shirt. She thought her son knew better than to date a boy, let alone this boy, who had pulled out one of her finest roses from her garden.

“Richie Tozier m'dame, at your service.” Richie finger gunned her and then stalked past towards Eddie was was sitting at the table pissing himself. Eddie leaned forward towards Richie and sniggered a “Her face!” but Richie didn’t really have time to respond as he was too busy wrapping his arm around Eddie’s waist and then pulling him in for a kiss. Eddie gasped slightly but melted into Richie’s cracked lips which tasted of cigarettes, surprise, surprise. They pulled away and Eddie giggled before his eyes landed on his mother who was standing still in the doorway glaring at them. If looks could kill they would both be on the floor right now. Sonia jumped when the doorbell went again but wiped off her grimace and answered it.

Myra was wearing a pretty dress that was about knee length with her hair in a messy bun. She was wearing lots of makeup and had obviously been using, and failing at a spray tan. Eddie awkwardly hugged her and scrunched up his nose at the stench of the overly sweet perfume she was wearing. He pretended not to see his mother’s face light up when he hugged her and Richie’s eyes staring a hole into her back. They walked over the wear Richie was standing, Myra talking about something and his mother hanging onto her every word. He waited till she was finished to introduce Richie.
“Myra this is Richie, my boyfriend.” Eddie said looking quickly at both Sonia and Myra’s faces. They were exactly the same. Myra looked Richie up and down and scowled. She rolled her eyes looking over at Sonia. Eddie grabbed Richie’s arm when he noticed his hands had balled up into fists and was frowning. He rubbed his arm softly and looked into to his eyes, trying to signal him that it will be fine, they just have to get through the evening.

Eddie and Richie walked hand in hand to the neatly set up table and sat down next to each other.
“Um no Eddie-bear I placed you next to Myra, our guest!” Sonia hissed more as a warning then a telling. Eddie looked at Myra who was grinning, he shivered.
“Richie is our guest as well.” Eddie spoke and squeezed Richie’s hand.
“Yes but Richie isn’t wanted here, is he Myra?” Eddie frowned at how appalling his mother was and looked over at Richie who was as angry as him.
“No m’dam.” Myra said and she cocked her head to the side with a smug look on her face. Eddie stood up and Richie joined him.
“We couldn’t have just had a nice dinner could we mother? You had to say that and basically kick Richie out. You said I could invite someone and I invited him. You know why? Because I like him, and he likes me. He makes me happy and so do my other friends. I am not going to live here forever. Next year I’ll be moving out and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. Because it’s my life, and I can choose who I want to spend it with. Goodbye.” Eddie grabbed Richie and pulled him towards the door, just before they went out of view of the two women Richie turned around.
“Oh and one more thing.” Richie held up both his middle fingers and winked. “Go suck a dick Mrs K” and with that they ran out the house into the road a big laughing mess. They were walking down the road to nowhere when Eddie broke into another fit of giggles.

“Did you really just tell my mother to suck a dick?” Richie just looked at Eddie and they both lost it, they had to stop it was so bad and half an hour later they found themselves sitting on the pavement.

“We should go somewhere.” Richie looked at Eddie. The sun had set long ago and the boys were getting irritated on the ground.
“Where do you wanna go? The diner’s still open?” Eddie said, looking at the stars, remembering an amazing night only a few days ago.
“No, we should go.” Richie said and looked at Eddie. Eddie looked at Richie and saw a future hidden inside him. He saw them leaving Derry together and living an amazing life, one day settling down and telling their children about the night they decided to leave, and live a better life than the one they were living now. Eddie shook his head slightly. They were too young.
“Not yet Chee,” he whispered and kissed Richie, this kiss was strange. It was like they were desperate for something, both of them pining for it but not being able to have it yet. When they pulled apart Eddie kept his eyes closed until Richie spoke.
“Chee?” He sniggered.
“What so you can give me a nickname but I can’t give you one?” Eddie said crossing his arms.
“No because you’re the cutest thing in the world Eds! I can’t live up to that level of amazingness!” Eddie slapped him on the arm.
“Shut up” He whispered and leaned in.
“Another kiss for me!” Richie cried out “It must be Christmas!”
“Nope!” Eddie said jumping up an inch away from Richie’s lips. He locked eyes with the boy and flashed his crazy eyes at him.
“Come here you little tease!” Richie jumped up and bolted towards Eddie who squealed and ran down the road. Richie managed, after a lot of running, to grab Eddie’s elbow and he yanked him towards him. They were standing in the middle of the road now but either could give a shit.

Richie looked down into Eddie’s eyes which were now large and bambi-like. He tilted up Eddie’s chin and leaned down and kissing him long and slow. They broke apart to a car horn honking at them. Eddie looked up into his mother's hard piercing eyes. Myra was also in the car with a saddened look on her face. But it had a hint of calmness and pleasure mixed into it. When Eddie saw that look he knew that truly she didn’t mind about the two boys. She gave him a half smile and he smiled back, before snapping back into reality. Eddie hugged Richie.
“Okay.” Eddie said.
“Okay what?” Richie wondered feeling pressured to be quick as Sonia was opening the car door.
“Okay, we’ll go, we’ll go far away, but not yet, soon, but not yet.” Eddie kissed Richie again quickly on the cheek and ran off towards the car. Richie backed off to the pavement and watched the boy he loved speed off into the distance. He hated the feeling but he knew, that that was the end of something, not them necessarily, but it was the end of a stage in his life.

Richie pinched his arm and in a split second a pinch was being returned. Both boys got into bed with a smile on their face that night. Holding onto the feeling of being young and in love.

~

Eddie’s bags were packed. Myra was sitting on his bed next to his suitcase looking through a photobook she was supposed to have packed. She had salty tears rolling down her face but wiped them away quickly before Eddie could see. She flipped the page to a photo of Eddie and Myra a few weeks after they had become closer friends. Eddie’s arm was around her waist and Myra had swung her arm around Eddie’s shoulders. She remembered that day clearly. It was before she understood Richie and Eddie, and still had a small (massive) crush on Eddie. Soon after this photo was taken Richie came round and Myra almost killed him for interrupting her Eddie time, but she couldn’t help shyly grinning at the two boys when they kissed softly and snuggled on the sofa.
“Myra come on,” Eddie whispered to her and she snapped out of the little memory hole she had fallen into. Everything sort of clicked in her mind then. That it was all over. Myra began to sob fully now, not bothering to cover her tears. Her chest and jaw ached. Eddie pulled her into a hug and she calmed down. Eddie pulled out some letters from his drawer and re-read some of them while Myra put the last important object from his room into his bags. They took one backpack each and walked quietly out of the room, arms linked tight together.
“This is it isn’t it?” Myra said, her voice shook and Eddie just nodded.

Eddie looked back at the room and a tear slipped down his cheek. He walked away, and didn’t look back at the room he grew to hate.

He dropped his bag down at the top of the stairs and opened the door to his mother's room slowly. He watched her sleep for a moment with a sad, cold expression. He no longer felt love for the woman who had brought him up, she had made his life a living hell the past year ever since she found out her son was gay, and that’s why Eddie knew it was time. He left the room, and never did he once look back.

The walk back was loud and painful. Eddie and Myra talked and talked like nothing was wrong. The talked about all the fun they have had and all the memories that they would never forget. Pointing at roads and talking about the late nights they spent out doing nothing. Myra spotted Richie’s house in the distance, a home she had grown to love more than her own. Richie’s mother treated her like a daughter whenever they hung out there. A daughter she never had maybe. She would visit them at the weekend. She knew they would both have a hard time after this.

A short while later they arrived at Richie’s house, he was holding a single backpack and a large teddy bear (Eddie-bear) in his hand and smiled weakly when he saw Myra and Eddie approach his home.
“I told them I was leaving.” Richie said, fresh tears forming in his eyes and sliding down his face, “They said that they couldn’t stop me but they love me.” Richie pulled Eddie into a tight hug and Eddie responded quickly.
“We can visit anytime. We will visit all the time Chee.” He said.

Next up was Myra, Eddie hugged her and burst out crying as soon as he did so, she was his best friend and she had helped him survive his mother for a little while. Yes they had gotten off to a bad start, but they grew to love each other like brother and sister. Eddie reached into his pocket and pulled out another letter, and handed it to Myra. She burst out crying again.
“I love you Edster,”
“I love you My My.”
Myra turned towards Richie, who she had also grown to love over the year, and hugged him.
“Treat him well Tozier.” She said wiping away her tears. Myra knew she had to leave now, or she would never leave them, and Myra’s life was here.. She took one last look at the two boys, they were wearing their iconic outfits, Richie in a Hawaiian shirt, Eddie with his short shorts and pastel jumper. They were holding hands. Myra turned the corner. And she did when they weren’t looking, turn towards the pair once more and watch them kiss in the pale moonlight. It was hard for her to let them go, but she had to, or it would be harder than it already was. She walked away. Myra’s heart was slowing filling with pain and heartbreak, and yet it was full of love. Love for the two boys and everything that came with them. Her tears had dried up now and the ache everywhere was fading.

“I loved you” She thought, and nodded, and never looked back.

Eddie broke down crying then, he didn’t expect it to be this hard. They stashed their bags on Richie’s front porch, they would get them later, and they started to walk.

First they went to Beverly’s house, Eddie slipped a letter through her front door and Richie left a page out of his joke book. The joke was one he used a lot, and had a hidden meaning behind it. He knew she would know what it meant. She was his best friend, always was, always would be.

They went to every single one of the losers houses, and it was mostly the same every time. As they were walking away from Mike’s farm Eddie pulled all the things one by one out of his pocket. Over the last month when they were beginning to realise it was time, Eddie took something from each of the losers. He had them all in his pocket and squeezed Beverly’s scrunchies.

He had Bill’s favourite pen, A polaroid of Ben, Stanley’s bird ornament, Mike’s bookmark and Eddie took Vee’s employe of the month badge.

The pair then, hand in hand, like usual, walked past the arcade (making sure to look in at the claw machine game that Richie had won a teddy for Eddie on the first time they met.) and into the Diner that they had spent all of their money in for months. They sat down in their usual booth and Eddie dropped off his uniform at the counter. The seats were sticky as they always were, and the same smell drifted around. There was no one else here, which game it a nice perspective. They sat in the same booth where Richie and Eddie had finally met, where they had kissed for the second time, and where they had gone on their first date, and many more dates after that. Where they sat with the losers and without the losers. It was their booth.

Eddie pulled out a sharpie and scribbled a E+R on the table. He knew the losers would notice the new graffiti and probably cry. But Eddie needed to leave his make on this booth. It had always been his favourite.

They ordered two strawberry milkshakes and sat together, in the place where it all started, hand in hand, until the sun rose and the staff changed.
The milkshakes were too sweet. And neither drank all of theirs. It tasted like broken promises and lost love. It tasted like the friendships that were soon to go sour. Richie couldn’t imagine any of the losers being happy about the two leaving. But they would be back soon, for a visit.

Richie and Eddie then placed a 50 on the table and left for their life ahead of them. And didn’t look back.