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Eddie leaned against the wall, arms crossed as he frowned at the sight of the pouring rain in front of him. He glanced over to his bike, the only one left in the bike rack, and shook his head in disappointment. Disappointment that he didn’t check the weather, as he usually would, and decided that today would be a great day to ride his bike to school.
Then again, “decided” was the wrong word. It was more like Eddie had forced himself to ride his bike to school today. All in the name of avoiding a certain curly-haired boy. That’s right. Eddie Kaspbrak, after being kissed just the night before by the trashmouth himself, had decided that avoiding his friend was the best course of action.
In a way, this felt fitting. Karma herself had seen how he had practically pushed his friend away last night, running away, without even a word, and then waking up early and leaving for school before said friend could pick him up and confront him about what he had done and said, “This asshole needs to be taught a lesson”.
Well, Karma had won and he did, in fact, feel guilty as fuck. Guilty that he had pushed away his friend, the boy he loved with all his heart. Guilty that he had stood him up this morning without even a text to tell him not to come pick him up. At this thought, Eddie winced, thinking about how sad Richie must have looked that morning as he made his way to school, having probably waited more than thirty minutes for him.
He was sure Richie had waited, seeing as he had been late to class that morning. That morning, in first period English, was the last time Richie had looked at him all day, quick to avoid him for the rest of the day. Seeing the look of disappointment in his friends' eyes just made Eddie even more scared to talk to him. Eddie didn’t make matters any better, as he skipped sitting with his friends at lunch to sulk in the nurse’s office.
Eddie closed his eyes, covering his face with his hands as he groaned in frustration. He was an idiot. A stupid, cowardly jerk. Why had he run away? That kiss had been everything he could have ever wanted. It was soft, tender and loving. Richie had put so much emotion behind that kiss. So much, that it had scared Eddie. Scared him so much that he made himself believe it was all some kind of joke. That Richie would pull away and pinch his cheeks, laughing as he said, “you should see the look on your face Eds! Bev dared me to, said I wouldn’t have the balls to do it!”
But that was not what had happened, not even close. Eddie had pushed him away, too scared to hear what would come after that kiss. Too scared to hear anything that could possibly play the kiss off as a joke. So he panicked, didn’t think rationally. Because really, why would Richie, his best friend in the whole wide world, ever play such a cruel joke like that on him? Richie tended to take things too far most of the time but Eddie knew, despite the irrational fears seeping through, fighting to take over his thoughts, that Richie would know better when it came to Eddie’s feelings. Eddie should have known better when it came to Richie’s.
Eddie should have known that there was always some unspoken feeling between them, both too scared to cross the line for fear of ruining their friendship. Yet he chose to ignore what he already knew, and when Richie was finally the braver of the two, crossing the line neither had ever dared to cross before, Eddie had been the one to ruin. Not Richie, but Eddie.
So here he was, stuck at school with no umbrella, no way home, no Richie and no hope. Hope was something he had lost as soon as he saw the hurt look in Richie’s eyes that morning. Hope was something he wasn’t allowed to have after being such an asshole. But Eddie had been scared, surprised by his best friend. Richie had just sprung the kiss on him, with nothing, not even a small sign, to warn him of what was coming.
Eddie hated surprises. Whether good or bad, he would much rather be prepared, know what exactly he would and wouldn’t be facing in his day-to-day life. So really, could you blame him for freaking out? Maybe, but there was no forgiveness for the way he acted afterwards, after he had time to process what had happened. His heart ached. It ached for Richie. Yearned for his laugh -obnoxious and loud- and for his smile. But he had no right to feel this way, not after he was the one that had pushed Richie away.
He thought about just making a run for it. Just going to his bike and riding home in the pouring rain. Screw waiting it out and screw his mom getting mad at him and screw getting sick for doing it. He deserved every punishment lady karma had in store for him today. He pushed himself away from the wall, closing his eyes as he took a deep breath, preparing himself for the most uncomfortable bike ride home of his life.
As he slowly opened his eyes, his breath hitched at the sight in front of him. There, standing under a purple umbrella, was none other than Richie Tozier himself. Eddies eyes widened as Richie slowly walked closer to him, until he was right in front. They stood like that, face-to-face, until Richie gave him a tentative smile.
“I saw you rode your bike today,” Richie motioned with his head towards the bike rack. “It started raining when I got home and I figured you would be stuck here.”
“Oh,” breathed out Eddie, suddenly feeling as if his throat had closed up. “I-Yeah, I was just about to make a run for it, actually.”
“Or…” Richie’s smile wavered slightly as he hesitated. “I uh-or I could walk you home. You know, share an umbrella and make sure you don’t get sick.”
Eddie’s heart lurched at the realization that Richie had walked, that’s right walked , all the way back to school just to make sure Eddie got home safe and dry. Not only that, but he knew Eddie well enough to know that he would never, not even in a million years, get into his death trap of a truck on a rainy day like today. Tears threatened to escape his eyes as he willed himself to answer, to say anything to Richie. To let him know how sorry he was and how much he appreciated how much he cared for Eddie.
“Listen, Richie…” he began as Richie reached over to pull him under the umbrella with him, clearly intent on not taking no for an answer. Richie lead them forward and away towards Eddie’s house. “I’m so sorry about yesterday Rich. I didn’t-”
“It’s fine Eds,” he interrupted, the hurt in his voice was clear to Eddie. “You don’t need to explain yourself. I-I crossed a line I shouldn’t have and I wanted to apologize for that. I hope we can still be friends, because I don’t think I could stand losing you completely.”
Eddie stopped walking, surprising Richie as he scrambled to make sure neither of them got wet. However, in that moment, Eddie didn’t care. He didn’t care about anything but making sure that Richie knew that Eddie was the one in the wrong not him. He could feel the tears freely falling down his cheeks, hands trembling as he clutched onto the straps of his backpack.
“Richie, you didn’t do anything wrong!“ he cried. “I’m the one who fucked up! I’m the one who ran away last night and ruined everything between us and-I’m sorry Richie! I was just scared and confused and I-I love you!”
Eddie wiped his eyes, flinching a little as he felt an arm wrap around him, holding him close. He hadn’t realized how much he had missed Richie throughout the day until this very moment. Until he had had to go a whole day without the taller boy’s arm wrapped around his shoulders, invading his space every second that he could.
“Breathe Eds, come on.” He sobbed into Richie’s shirt, clutching at it as if he would disappear if he were to let go. Richie shushed him as he rested his chin on top of Eddie’s head, rocking them both gently. When he could no longer feel Eddie’s deep sobs, he let go, leaning back to look the shorter boy in the eyes.
Richie smiled down at him as he cupped his tear-stained cheek, slowly leaning down to graze Eddie’s lips with his own. He hesitated, giving Eddie time to pull away, but when he didn’t move, Richie gently pressed his lips against Eddie’s in a quick, chaste kiss. “I love you too Eddie spaghetti.”