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Richie tripped over his own two feet as he ran back to where he had left Eddie. Was it dumb of him to leave the critically injured man alone? Yes. But his anger towards Pennywise became too great for him to handle and before he knew it, he was ripping off the claws from the clowns body and calling him a fuck face. He fell on his knees next to Eddie.
"Eds, we did it. We killed it," Richie gently cupped Eddie's face. His eyes were open but he wasn't responding to what Richie had just told him. "Eddie, Eddie, come on."
"Richie, Richie, honey, he's dead." Beverly sounded like she was about to cry. It was heartbreaking to see Richie crouched next to Eddie's lifeless body. "We need to go,"
"No, he's fine. We can still help him," Richie sounded desperate. He was clinging on to the idea that Eddie was ok, he had just passed out from the pain or blood loss. "Let's get him out of here,"
"We have to leave him here, there's no time." Mike had a firm grip on Richie, that was, until Richie lunged forward and wrapped himself around Eddie, holding his head up.
"I'm not leaving him!" He was fully prepared to stay there and let the walls of Derry come crashing down on top of them if it meant he could stay with Eddie.
Seconds passed, which felt like hours due to the situation they were in. It was becoming too dangerous, there was no way any of them would make it out alive if they didn't leave soon.
"For fucks sake," Ben remembered Richie being stubborn, but not like this. When they had first met at the restaurant, he was so set on leaving, avoiding death at any cost. He felt bad for him, how Richie had stolen glances, how his face dropped when he found out Eddie had married. Ben found himself prying Richie's body away from Eddie, only to pick up the significantly smaller man. "I'll carry him out, but we need to leave, NOW."
It was significantly harder getting out of the caves than it was getting in. With Eddie's body and everything collapsing around the Losers', it felt like maybe they wouldn't get out on time. The house began to sink into the ground as Ben found himself running out of the front door, the rest of the group already in the street. Ben found himself next to Beverly, watching as the house sank deep into the depths of Derry. Its during this that he noticed that Eddie's body had yet to go cold. He was still warm and if anything, the color that had drained from his face while they were in the caves had returned.
Ben was forced out of his thoughts when Richie approached him. "Let me carry him, please." He was covered in Eddie's blood and large tears were running down his face. Richie found himself gripping Eddie's body like it was his lifeline as they walked down the empty streets of Derry. The comfortable silence was broken when they passed Keene's pharmacy and the old thrift store.
"Hey, guys." Beverly was looking at her left palm. "My scar is gone," She showed her hand to the rest of the Losers'. Sure enough, the large scars that had been living on all their palms since they were in middle school had vanished. Richie found himself looking down at Eddie for the first time since they had left the Neibolt house.
The nasty wound that had been on Eddie's abdomen had vanished and left a rather large pink scar in its place. Richie was almost positive he was hallucinating, or that maybe this was some sort of dream he was going to wake up from. "Does everyone else see what I'm seeing or am I going fucking insane?"
But Richie wasn't going insane, and he wasn't in a dream either. He even made Ben pinch him to make sure. The other Losers' confirmed that Eddie's wound had healed, even if it did seem impossible. The more distance they created between them and Neibolt, the more Eddie seemed to heal. They walked all the way to the quarry, reliving the childhood memory of jumping off the cliffs into the freezing water below. Only, Richie didn't find himself in the water this time. He found himself looking out at the view from the cliffs, Eddie propped up next to him on a rock. He found himself laughing at how he would probably get arrested and sent to a mental hospital if someone found him like this. He was covered in blood and had a body sitting next to him after all.
Richie was torn from his thoughts when he heard a small wheeze next to him. "Eddie?"
Soon, Eddie started coughing violently and spit up some blood. "Fuck," his voice was scratchy and rough.
Tozier snapped out of his moment of shock and crawled over to Eddie. "Holy shit, what the fuck. What the fuck?" He grabbed Eddie's face and stared into his eyes. "Eds, what the fuck?" He was breathless. There was no way this was real. His hands fumbled over Eddie's neck and wrist, feeling for his pulse. He found it soon enough, strong under his fingers. "Holy shit,"
"Richie, I need to tell you something," Eddie cleared his throat.
"Anything, what is it?" Richie found himself cupping Eddie's face again.
"I fucked your mom so good,"
"I fucking hate you, dumbass." Richie let out a weak laugh as Eddie smiled up at him. The two take a moment just to look at each other before Eddie opens his mouth again.
"I-I don't think I want to go home."
"You don't have to go home right now,"
"No," Eddie let out a shaky breath. "I don't want to go home at all. I don't want to go back to Myra. I want to stay with you,"
"O-okay... You can stay with me," Richie's heart was pounding against his chest. "You can stay with me for as long as you want,"
Eddie found himself closing his eyes. "Rich?"
"Yeah, Eds?"
"Its always been you." He said softly. "I only want to be with you,"
"I've wanted to hear those words my whole fucking life, you fucker." Richie had tears rolling down his face but that didn't stop him from leaning down and kissing Eddie. Neither of them seem to care about the blood they're both covered in, or the dust and dirt. All Richie could focus on was the fact that Eddie was alive and warm underneath him. Sure, his lips weren't the softest, and they both might smell like death, but Richie couldn't imagine a better first kiss. There was no other way he would want to start his life with Eddie.