Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Richie was so tired. He was mentally and emotionally drained as well as totally and completely physically fatigued. As he sat slumped in the world's most uncomfortable chair, too tired to give a shit about comfort in between the stages of sleep and consciousness, he recalled the events of the past week. The most hectic and bizarre week of his life since 27 years ago, starting with the memories he had forgotten previously that flooded back as though he'd never actually forgotten in the first place. If that wasn't confusing enough, recalling a supernatural child-killing clown he and his childhood friends had fought off on multiple occasions to save this sorry town from any further murders from small-minded people who would never know to thank them and would continue with their wrong-doings and bigotry would certainly take the cake.

Even if the memories of his entire childhood were only fresh back into his mind, Richie remembered everything now. Or, he remembered enough as one can't realise they'd forgotten something they don't remember. But it felt like everything. Two weeks ago they had killed Pennywise the dancing clown, killed him for good this time. Shrunk him down to the pathetic crusted sludge he was. Two weeks ago, Richie felt his best friend dying in his arms, but not before he and the rest of the Losers club hauled Eddie's limp and bloody body out of the cavern that was Pennywise's lair. As Eddie's eyes started to flicker weakly and the walls around the group started to crumble and shake, Richie carried Eddie out as far as he could on his own bridal-style, and later with the help of Mike, Bill, Ben and Bev up the walls of the old well, an almost impossible feat hadn't it been for their teamwork in a dire time of a frantic life-or-death scenario and out of the old house moments before collapse.

Richie was certain he pulled every muscle in his body as well as fracturing a couple ribs and fingers either during the get-Eddie-out process, the fight to the death with the murderous clown, or both. But he was lucky. So lucky to only come out with fractures as well as a multitude of scrapes, cuts and bruises as opposed to his friend, arguably his best friend out of the group. Still mulling over his thoughts as he had been every day and night for two weeks now, he was still completely exhausted. His ribs and hands were healing and his bruises faded, muscles still tight and torn and this damn chair didn't help. He didn't dare leave though, he hadn't properly left the chair other than to use the bathroom, wash his face and brush his teeth every once in a while and grab food from the hospital cafeteria if he had the appetite for it that day. He didn't dare to leave Eddie's side for more than a few minutes, really.

Sat in the hospital beside Eddie's bed where he lay still, pale and attached to a drip with the slow beeping of the heart monitor reminding Richie that Eddie was still alive. Usually the incessant beeping would drive Richie insane especially for two weeks straight more or less, however, the pulse of those beeps belonged to the heart of his best friend, the thing that was keeping him alive, and what would've been the most annoying noise in the world under any other circumstance was the most comforting sound to lull Richie into a meditative trance.

Eddie's wife had been told of her husband's condition the day he was administered to the hospital of course. She had been staying in Derry in a hotel 2 miles from the hospital, checking in on Eddie every day to mutter some lovesick or sometimes chastising ramblings much to Richie's dismay, though he valued privacy and left the room whilst she did visit. He'd stay close, just sitting outside the room in yet another uncomfortable hospital chair.

The second night of Eddie's hospital stay was the night Myra arrived at the hospital she was frantic. Yelling at Richie, Bev, Ben, Mike and Bill about the state of her husband and how this even happened as she held them responsible, oddly reminiscent of when Eddie broke his arm and his mother picked him up, yelling at the losers. Ben managed to calm her down. He was good at that sort of thing with his kind and calm demeanour, whereas Richie was close to blowing his lid with this woman, yelling back at her in defence only to be dragged out of the room by Mike and Bev. Bill was consoling Myra with Ben and they both did a good job because Myra hadn't yelled at them like that since.

She did convince Richie, on the third night of Eddie's hospital stay and after his second operation to head back to his own hotel room for some sleep as she wanted to spend a night next to her husband. Reluctant, he eventually agreed after a back-and-forth of Myra's "He's my husband!" and Richie's "I don't care he's my best friend," to which Myra would hiss back "so good of a friend he's never mentioned you before," which almost sent Richie into a rage again. Instead of firing back, he glanced at Eddie's still form, sighed and left for the night. He didn't sleep well, the sleep he did get was the best of three hours. His mind was full of thought, wondering if Eddie had woke up in the night and he hadn't been there. Sure, the fact that someone would be there brought him some comfort... but in all honestly Richie wasn't the biggest fan of Myra. She was way too much like the other Mrs K, and Richie wasn't a fan of hers either. He felt guilty about his selfishness of wanting to be there when Eddie does eventually wake up and not Myra, so the only night he spent away from Eddie, he was itching to get back. Waiting on the hours to roll on 9 am just to be at his side again. He really didn't give a shit about Myra's protests, she left soon after Richie returned anyway, eager to get some proper sleep herself.

So now, Richie is pretty much a permanent resident of that room and Myra visits daily. The rest of the group visited every day as well up until the fourth day when their lives back at their own homes in different cities called them back. They stayed with Richie by Eddie's side for hours on those days, reminiscing amongst themselves, playing card games and generally keeping each other company.

On the fifth day a nurse entered the room with a bucket and sponge, explaining that she needed to clean Mr Kasbrack. She offered the chore to Richie, stating that friends and family would prefer to do this rather than a stranger. It took him a brief moment to think it over, Eddie needed to stay clean of course that was pretty much the basis of his being. Richie supposed he would also prefer that someone who actually knew him to do this, "Sure," he muttered as the nurse handed over the sponge, setting the bucket beside him, smiling sympathetically as she left the room. Richie supposed Myra could do this, but he didn't want her to do this. Damn, these past weeks have turned him selfish, but his selfishness didn't let him care. He spoke to Eddie as he cleaned him, talking about what the Losers were up to in their home towns, that Bev was getting a divorce to her husband and was living with Ben. That Bill was working on his endings, Mike was vacationing in Florida.

He spoke to Eddie a lot, he really did. He didn't want to sit in silence all the time, worried about boring an unconscious man. He wasn't sure if the whole coma-patients-hearing-everything was a myth or proven or not, so he held one-sided conversations for the benefit of the man, just talking about anything and everything unsure if Eddie would actually remember any of it when he'd wake up. Richie gave him sponge baths every day, specifically before 11 am, before Myra would come in for her three hours.

Though now, on the fourteenth day on the eighteenth hour, Richie was slumped, chin resting on his chest, glasses slowly edging down the bridge of his nose before he heard a soft grunt and a rustle of bed covers. His head shot up as though wide awake and his eyes met his friend's, open for the first time in a fortnight.

"Eddie, Eddie hey," Richie spoke softly with a hint of desperation, moving swiftly closer to Eddie's side.

"Rich-" he gasped hoarsely, mouth dry, blinking at the grinning man.

"Oh," Richie grabbed the unopened water bottle he had ready by Eddie's bedside, twisted the cap off and held to Eddie's lips.

"Thanks," Eddie gasped, rolling his head back in relief after downing nearly half the bottle. "What... What's...?" He trailed off.

Sensing his confusion, Richie smiled reassuringly "We beat him Ed's," he said just above a whisper as if someone were to hear him "Pennywise, he's dead. Properly dead this time."

Relief washed over Eddie's face. "Fuck, that's... how did you do it?" Richie went on to explain how they defeated the clown and hauled Eddie's ass out of the lair, met with Eddie's gasps and slight laughs.

"Dude," he finally said, voice still hoarse and cracking "I can't believe it. You could've just left me there. I can't begin to imagine carrying a half-dead man out of that fucking well."

Richie snorted "As if, Ed's. The rest of the guys would've had to drag me away screaming and kicking," Eddie chuckled at that, a sound that warmed Richie's heart. "You're super light might I add. I'm just lucky that out of all of us it was you I had to carry out of there, otherwise, I'm not sure I would've managed."

"Fuck off I'm a full-grown man, dipshit" Eddie shot back. Richie grinned. Despite his current state, he still refused to take anyone's shit.

"Not sure about the full-grown aspect, but-" Eddie weakly reached up to nudge Richie's shoulder with a smile still adorning his face.

"How long have I been... here?" He gestured to the white room surrounding him.

"Two weeks. They operated on you a couple times. The guys were here too, for a while. Though they had to get back y'know," Richie shrugged.

Eddie sincerely smiled "I'm glad you stayed."

They paused for a moment, smiling at each other before a weight hit Richie "Oh, I should probably get a nurse to tell your wife you're awake-"

"Not yet." Eddie reached out to grab Richie's arm as he started to shuffle out of his seat. "I just wanna talk a little longer."

Richie was relieved but didn't let it show "Of course." So they spoke for hours about defeating Pennywise and about the current lives of Bill, Mike, Bev and Ben.

"I miss Stan," Edie stated solemnly.

"So do I, bud." Richie rested a hand on his shoulder. "It's not fucking fair." He said after a moment, voice slightly raised and slightly angered, standing up to pace the room "Why us man? We were kids! What the fuck!" Richie started to get agitated thinking about everything they were put through "This fucking clown-spider-alien thing invaded our town and destroyed lives. All of our lives. There are dead kids and parents without any answer or closure."

"Like Bill's parents..." Eddie interjected softly, eyes on the frustrated man.

"Exactly! Jesus man, how any of us are still functional adults baffles me," Richie snorted.

"Barely functional." Eddie cracked a smile, gesturing to his current situation, bedridden and hooked up to a drip. It made Richie laugh which released some tension momentarily.

At that moment a nurse walked in. "Oh! Mr Kasbrack, you're awake!" She spoke pleasantly, bringing the two men back to earth after their discussion about the most bizarre thing to probably happen to anyone ever. She started to run some tests on him and brought another nurse through to check the data. Richie stepped back and out of the way. Eddie was probably starving, so whilst the nurses were doing their thing, he headed down to the hospital cafeteria to grab a couple of sandwiches for them both.

Eddie was delighted, he grunted in thanking Richie and scoffed the cheese and tomato sandwich. "Slowly," one of the nurses warned him kindly "You don't want to put too much strain on your stomach, your internal wounds have healed but it's still going to take some time until you can comfortably digest food."

He nodded but finished the sandwich in record time anyway. "Fuck," he sighed in content "thanks man." nodding to Richie. Eddie frowned, raising his hand to his wound with a grimace "Fuck." He groaned this time in pain.

The nurses finished up their tests and gave Eddie an 'I-told-you-so' look he really didn't care for as they left the room. Richie was back by his side, sensing the man's discomfort in his chest, he lightly rubbed his chest to ease the pain. The outer wound wasn't there anymore, but a bandaged scar. His pain subsided and he thanked Richie again.

"Eddie-bear!" A shrill voice came from the doorway of the room. Richie inwardly cringed. Eddie shot him a look to which Richie shrugged as though to say I'm not the one who told her.

Eddie forced a smile at his wife as she hopped over to him "The hospital called said you're awake- what did I say I don't want you out and about on dangerous adventures, wherever you went," she snapped a snide glance at Richie who returned it with a mocking smile, rolling his eyes once she turned back to Eddie who just looked so, done. " I can't let you out of my sight who knows what will happen to you if you go off on your own again,"

"Myra-"

"The world's too dangerous for my Eddie-bear. First, you say you want to leave to this place, despite me telling you that I'd be alone and sad, you neglected me and left me on my own-"

"Myra-"

"And you almost get yourself killed! You cannot be seeing those people again. No, no no. Not when they let this happen to you, I can't allow-"

"Would you shut the fuck up!" Eddie groaned, rubbing his hands over his face. Richie's eyes widened at his small outburst, finally stopping the woman in her tracks. Should he leave the room? This domestic was about to get interesting, he sort of didn't want to move from his spot at the end of Eddie's bed.

"Excuse me?" Myra huffed in disbelief.

"You honestly can't come in here ranting to me like this, bringing my friends into it of all things-"

"Some friends." She scoffed.

Eddie frowned at her, almost scowling. "You're too much. I can't... I just need some space from you."

Myra went off, yelling and screeching about how he wants to neglect her again, that he needs her, how he isn't allowed to see his friends again and Richie was honestly so baffled watching this woman speaking to Eddie like that, but it seemed like he didn't need any help.

"Fucking hell, get out. Please. I don't need you. You're driving me insane, how I coped with this for five fucking years-"

"You are coming home with me!" She yelled.

"I couldn't stand another fucking minute with you!" He confessed, raising his voice. Richie noticed how his hand went back to his wound again with a grimace on his face.

"Hey maybe we should-" Richie interjected, though he was quickly cut off by the insane woman standing between himself and his friend.

"And you," she seethed, turning to Richie jamming a finger at his chest "you think you know Eddie, I'm his wife. I know my husband. This is all you, you, putting this nonsense into his head about not needing me. He needs me, he's nothing without me. You're never going to see him again."

"You don't deserve a guy like Eddie, you bitc-"

"Don't you dare speak to me like that you-"

"I don't want to be married to you anymore." Eddie's voice cut through the room silencing the two. Myra turned to look at Eddie, eyes wide and full of rage.

"What?" She hissed.

"I don't know what compelled me to marry you in the first place," he spoke full of regret. "I'm not happy with you, I... I can't be with you any longer. I don't love you." His voice trailed off just above a whisper.

Myra was silent for once in her life, if only for a few moments to process the words her soon-to-be ex-husband just spoke to her. "You have nowhere to go." Her words dripping with choler and childish anger.

"He can stay with me." Richie spoke up. Eddie met his eyes with a soft expression of thankfulness and relief.

The tension in the room settled as a cloud of silence hung over the three. Seemingly with nothing more to say, Myra glared back and forth at the pair and stormed out of the room.

Sighing a breath of relief, Eddie was the first to speak. "I'm so sorry, that got super ugly quick, you didn't need to see that."

"I should've left the room to leave you both to it, It's my bad."

"No, no, I would've said the same. I can't stand her, Rich. I wasn't too harsh was I?"

Richie shook his head. "She was a piece of work, you handled it well."

"Thanks. And uh... did you mean it? I can... stay with you?"

"Wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it Eds," he grinned "stay as long as you need to. Honestly."

"I appreciate it so much, thank you. Now uh, let's get the fuck outta here, huh?"

"Fuck yeah!" Richie laughed, helping Eddie out of bed.

"My legs feel tingly," he murmured, rolling his ankles in a circular motion.

Richie lifted a bag of Eddie's clothes he prepared for his awakening. "You need help, or?" he offered awkwardly.

Eddie huffed a small laugh from his nose. "I can dress myself thanks," shooting the taller man a playfully mocking look.

"Thought I'd kindly offer!" He raised his hand up in defence, laughing to himself. "Right-o, you change, I'll get a nurse to get you discharged." He left Eddie to change out of his hospital gown, walking down the hall with a slight skip in his step, ignoring the butterflies brewing in his stomach.

Chapter Text

“You can’t fly just yet, Mr Kaspbrack,” The nurse said “another four weeks at least until it’s safe. You’re at risk of blood clots, circulatory shock leading to infection and other possible complications.”

Eddie felt sick at the thought "Better not risk it."

"We can take my car. Make a trip out of it. What d’ya say?” Richie playfully nudged him, grinning.

Eddie paused for a moment, “Yeah okay.” He wasn’t disappointed. Not that he was scared of flying exactly, though it puts him on edge, any further possible health complications, however, scared the shit out of him. And a road trip did sound fun. He finished filling out his contact details, followed by a new emergency contact, his doctor’s information as well as Richie’s due to the fact he wasn’t going to be in New York much longer, but L.A. and figured he’d need to transfer.

"You’re free to go, Mr Kaspbrack.” The nurse smiled sweetly. She prescribed him with painkillers and sent him on his way.

The two men gathered their belongings from Richie’s hotel room and hightailed it out of Derry as soon as they could. "I feel so... clean," Eddie stated as he settled into the comfortable car seat, examining the skin on his arms, voice full of questioning suspect.

"You're welcome," Richie spoke with a tone of overplayed smugness "Kept you in tip-top condition I did."

Eddie chuckled in disbelief "You what? You cleaned me?"

"Now why's that so hard to believe?" Richie gasped, feigning hurt.

"A little, yeah. Richie Tozier performing an act of kindness for no personal gain? Truly the first sign of the apocalypse."

"We beat the apocalypse, Eds never forget that," Richie spoke very matter-of-fact, cracking a smile "and dude of course, I'm insulted, offended that you don't think I care about my freakish cleanliness-obsessed best friend's needs."

"I'm your best friend?" Eddie cocked an eyebrow, considering the rest of the losers. Suddenly Eddie felt like a teenager again as the words slipped out of his mouth.

Richie glanced briefly at the younger man with a wink Eddie couldn't decide was playful or sincere, making him blush nonetheless. "The bestest."

Ignoring the sudden blood rushing to his cheeks, Eddie nervously changed the subject. “Do you think we can stop by my place on the way to get my shit?”

Richie nodded, keeping his eyes on the road, mentally planning a route “New York’s on the way, we’ll drive through New Hampshire and Vermont.”

Eddie smiled in content, tipped his head back and closed his eyes to get some rest. “Are you kidding?” Richie snickered, “You’ve been asleep for two weeks, how are you tired already?”

Eddie squinted an eye open to meet the bemused glance Richie threw him. “Didn’t feel like I was asleep, and I’m tired, asshole. What can I say,”

“Come on Eds, we’re hittin’ the open road, let’s crank some tunes!” He spoke with an exaggerated Californian accent.

Eddie chuckled, he loved Richie’s accents and voices when he’d put on a character. He always knew how to make him laugh. “Tomorrow.” He mumbled, settling into the seat, wrapping his arms around himself before drifting off.

Richie had been driving for a couple hours after Eddie nodded off before his eyes started to feel heavy. They were almost out of Maine, not far from the New Hampshire boarder. It didn’t take him ten minutes before he found a decent looking motel to rest for the night.

He gently shook Eddie awake with a hand on his shoulder, "Hey Eds, I'll grab the bags from the back and you see if we can get a room yeah?" 

Eddie nodded sleepily, rubbing his eyes and pausing to say "Don’t call me Eds,” to which Richie snickered. Richie walked in bags in tow, Eddie managed to get them a twin room and it took literally moments into entering the motel before Richie dropped the bags by his feet to collapse onto one of the beds face-down, groaning in content. He hadn’t had a proper night’s sleep since before Mike called them back into Derry, the need to relax was long overdue.

Eddie on the other hand, as tired as he was, could never go to bed before brushing his teeth and washing his face. Stepping into the en-suite, he changed into his bed wear which literally just consisted of a loose-fitting tee and boxer shorts. After brushing and flossing his teeth, he cleansed his face with toner and oil-free moisturiser. He thought about how Richie actually took care of him for two weeks during his mini coma. He began to inspect his body; the creases of his arms, hands, stomach, hips, knees, legs. He was surprised at how fresh and clean he actually was despite lying in a bed for two weeks, wondering if Richie had missed any parts of his body which led him on to thinking how he actually felt about cleaning him. Grateful, of course, though there was a knot in his chest (other than his wound) that gave him a giddily anxious feeling he couldn't exactly place.

Upon leaving the en-suite, he was met with Richie's sleeping form, still face down and fully clothed. Before settling into his own bed, Eddie crouched by him placing a hand under his cheek to gently lift his head without waking the man, proceeding to delicately remove his glasses and placing them neatly on the dresser, followed by his shoes and a spare blanket folded on the dresser chair to drape over him. Eddie turned the lights off and crawled into his bed lulled to sleep by the sound of Richie's gentle snoring. 

*

Richie was the first to wake up, he glanced at the bedside clock. 7:45am. He groaned, he wasn’t used to getting up earlier than 10am on a normal day. It took him a few moments to realise the reason for his early awakening when he heard incoherent mutterings from Eddie’s bed getting louder and louder. They quickly turned to yelling outbursts, he started to thrash in his bed, kicking and screaming. Without hesitation Richie rolled out his own bed to crouch by his friend.

”Eddie,” he started to shake him by his shoulders “Eddie!”

Eddie shot upright, gasping for air, face tear-stained and eyes wide. “He had me Richie, he had me,” rambling as he tried to make sense of what was happening.

”You’re safe, he’s not here. He’s dead Eds,” Richie said reassuringly, rubbing circles on Eddie’s back, his sweat soaking the fabric of his shirt. Richie didn’t care about that, focusing on getting his friend back to reality.

Eddie sniffed, still panting. “Fuck... what the fuck. It felt so real, it really did Rich-“ all of a sudden an intense, tight burning stirred in Eddie’s wound, he clasped his hand over it groaning loudly in pain, writhing as he threw his body back into the bed. Richie was instantly up and looking through Eddie’s bag for his painkillers. Blind as fuck, he threw his glasses on, not really remembering taking them off the night before. He grabbed a water bottle and a couple pills, coaxing the writhing man into taking them without making too much mess. He didn’t know what else to do that would help him through his pain whilst the painkillers worked their magic other than repeating “It’s okay,” and running his fingers through Eddie’s hair with one hand, placing his other on his chest, lightly massaging in a circular motion. The painkillers the nurse had prescribed were fast acting and extra strength, so it only took a couple minutes before Eddie was calm and breathing normally again.

”I’m sorry,” he started.

”Don’t apologise for shit out of your control,” Richie smiled kindly at the man. “You better?”

Eddie nodded “I think I am, thanks Rich. God, I feel gross,” he noted his sweat-soaked tee.

”You look it too,” Richie teased “get a shower, sweaty. What do you want for breakfast?” 

Eddie mulled it over for a moment before heading to the en-suite. “Waffles.”

Richie grinned. ”Then waffles it is.”

Chapter Text

It took over an hour to find a waffle house that Eddie approved of, following Richie's hunger complaints with "I'm not eating shitty diner waffles if we're gonna get waffles. We're doing this properly."

"Dude, waffles are waffles. It's like sex-"

"How the fuck is it anything like-"

"Even a shit waffle is still good. You're still eating a waffle. Hell, I'd happily scoff five toaster waffles right now, no topping or anything. As long as I'm fucking fed, Kaspbrack." Richie grinned, keeping his eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.

"You're a madman, Tozier. It's about quality. Why deprive yourself of a better version of something just mediocre?"

"You, my small friend, are depriving my very empty stomach of food. I needs my fuel Edwardina," Richie chucked as Eddie swatted his arm playfully. "I'm fucking starved. If we don't find a place soon, you're the one on the menu. You're little so you'd fit onto a barbeque," he echoed his words from the time the Losers reunited back in the clubhouse Ben had built for them. He winced inwardly remembering his words that bracketed a playful statement about sacrificing Eddie. Well, if that wasn't a jinx and a half. Foreshadowing at its finest. He was brought back out of his thoughts as he earned an even harder swat on his arm from the smaller man as a delightful reminder that Eddie wasn't sacrificed. He was right there in the passenger seat next to Richie. Flesh and blood. "Watch it, Eds. You don't want your fate to be concluded in a nasty accident caused by your own inability to keep your hands off'a me,"

"You watch it, Trashmouth. And don't fuckin' call me Eds."

The waffle house they did find was a quaint and colourfully quirky place in East New Hampshire. They clambered over one another to sit in the booth, pushing and laughing before settling opposite one another, eyes scanning the menus in their hands.

"Done, decided. As I said, I'd eat literally anything at this point, though the sound of this Hersheys Heaven Mountain is making my dick tingle," Richie crudely hummed.

Eddie rolled his eyes but couldn't keep a smile off his face. They relayed their order to the waitress and due to them being the sole customers in the modest establishment (probably because it opened minutes before their arrival), their food was out within ten minutes.

Richie's eyes grew comically large at the sight of the literal mountain of chocolate layered beautifully between ice cream and a variety of sauces atop of his waffle, and his jaw slacked at the sight of the milkshake he'd ordered with his food which was literally a liquid version of his waffle dressed insanely with more whipped cream and syrup a man could handle. It was almost pornographic. "Fuck. Me." he gasped, hands fumbling for the cutlery to instantly tear the diabetic creation apart.

Eddie relented into a giggle as he watched his friend moan as he shovelled a forkful of his food into his mouth.

"You've gone for the healthy option, huh? Makin' me look bad," Richie was able to make out through a mouthful of goodness, gesturing to Eddie's plate; a red berry covered waffle with a simple line of strawberry syrup and lemon zest for garnish, with a dollop of whipped cream next to a pinkish-red fruit smoothie.

Eddie shrugged a shoulder "You can still be health-conscious and indulge. Hell, there's still a hell of a lot of sugar here, but not nearly as much as yours, like, holy shit. It looks amazing but I don't really wanna deal with sugar-high Richie, you're already too much as it is," he jested.

"Hey, I'm taking your advice here! Indulging in the most delectably indulgent way possible, my friend. I must admit you're right - I would've been a madman to choose toaster waffles over this beauty had I known an hour's wait was the only extra cost. Richie-Trashmouth-Madman-Tozier."

"How you can still ramble and eat at record speed will always amaze me. Honestly, don't go choking on me now. You don't want your fate to be concluded in a nasty accident caused by your own inability to eat at a normal human pace." Eddie smirked.

Richie raised his eyebrows, grinning at the man opposite him "I'm a man of very surprising and very useless talents my dear old friend, you of all people should know that by now. Besides, how are you feeling? Like, is your chest? Hurting? At all?"

Taking his time with his food unlike Richie, Eddie shook his head "As much as I wanna become one with this delicious hunk of Cherry Berry, I would love to avoid the excruciating cramp of acid-like-bile creeping up my throat that would come with it."

Richie hummed in response, already halfway to finishing his waffle. They ate in relative silence along with the hum of a Band of Horses song playing softly through the speakers.

"Hey um, yesterday before you fell asleep in the car when you said it didn't feel like you were sleeping? In the coma? What did you mean?" Richie asked curiously.

Eddie sat back in his seat, contemplating his next words for a few moments "It was kinda like... you're somewhere between awake and dreaming, but you're not exactly dreaming because you can hear what's happening around you," Eddie chews on his lip, frowning in thought. "Everything's foggy like you're in a separate state of limbo your brain has never ventured before. It's hard to explain, but it's unlike resting and more... more just waiting and. Uh. Floating." He gulped, recoiling at the choice of word.

Richie seemed to notice by the grim expression flashing across his face but chose not to interject.

"I remember hearing things, though disjointed voices and speech that didn't always make sense. I was aware that it was real, what I was hearing, I just couldn't respond." Eddie sucked on his bottom lip, eyes trained on his smoothie the whole time. "And when I woke up, you were there, I felt like I had been falling the whole time and when I landed was when my eyes opened. But I was just confused. It took me a few moments to make sense of things." His eyes finally met Richie's who was just staring solemnly at the younger man.

"Damn, uh, Eddie. That sounds..." Richie slurped his milkshake "haunting."

Eddie nodded slowly before sipping his own drink. "Can I just say, again, thanks." His eyes flicked up to Richie's face for a moment before picking up his fork to prod his waffle lightly "You really didn't have to stay with me all that time... but you did."

"Why the fuck wouldn't I? What would I have to go back to now that I actually remember you guys this time around to just leave you on your own to face the wrath of Myra? Whatever kind of friend would do that to his best bud ain't this guy," 

"And now you're driving me cross-fucking-country. Don't you have, like, tours and shows to do?" 

Richie smiled, soft and genuine "I can pick and choose when I want to work, it's no big,"

"Lucky for some,"

"Besides when I got the call from Mike I told my agent to cancel or postpone any gigs for the next two months because I had no idea how long I was gonna be gone for. And I totally bombed at my last show-"

"-which I am definitely gonna watch online at some point,"

Richie flicked some of his whipped cream at Eddie which landed on his cheek. Eddie was quick to retaliate, flicking some of his own back at Richie, landing in his hair. Richie was about to fling more back before Eddie held his hands up in front of his face.

"Woah woah, okay, before we start hurling our food at each other, let's consider not getting ourselves kicked out,"

"Trashmouth one, Special K zero," Richie stated smugly.

"What the fuck I got you, it's equal!"

"Your loss is the surrender, Kaspbrack,"

"Fuck you, dude." Eddie crossed his arms over his chest.

"Fuck you," Richie mocked, holding Eddie's stare.

Eddie was the first to break it, cracking up as he threw his head back in laughter, Richie followed suit doubling over in the booth laughing the loudest out of the two.

"Hold up," Richie said once he'd composed himself. He got up and slid onto the seat next to Eddie, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He opened up the phonebook app and started a group call with the rest of the Losers. "Hey!" He waved at his phone once multiple other faces appeared on the screen. It was divided into four sections; Bev and Ben in one corner with the soft white background of a bedroom, Mike who was outside somewhere in Florida with the pale blue sky behind him, Bill in a naturally lit room with dark oak wood accenting the doorframe behind him, and Richie in the bottom right. He presented Eddie on the screen which was instantly met with elated yells of surprise.

"Eddie! Y-you're awake! Also where the f-fuck are you?"  Bill was the first to speak.

"Some waffle hut in New Hampshire,"

"New Hampshire?! Wait- what?" Mike spoke up.

"How long have you been conscious? Care to fill us in?" Ben stifled a yawn running his hand through his messy bed hair.

"I was just discharged yesterday-"

"Why are we just finding out now! Richie! You dumbass thanks for keeping us updated!" Bev sarcastically yelled through a grin.

"That's what I'm doing now isn't it?" Richie turned the phone so it was on both him and Eddie, scooting closer to him "Besides, I've been busy getting this one out of Maine,"

"It's so good to s-see you up buddy. Sorry we couldn't b-be there when you woke up." Bill said apologetically followed by a chorus of agreements by the rest of the group.

"What's that on your face, Eddie? And in Richie's hair?"  Mike squinted at the screen noting the cream splatters still freckled on Eddie's cheek and resting in Richie's brown locks.

"Is that-"

"It's not cum guys get your minds out of the gutter," Richie rolled his eyes.

"Beep beep, Richie," Bev raised her eyebrows in amusement, mirroring Eddie's own horrified-yet-amused expression.

"S-says the Trashmouth,"

Richie swiped his finger on Eddie's cheek quick enough before he could even react, collecting the majority of the cream and sucked it off his finger. "See," He said as to make his point.

"Gross," Eddie huffed through a chuckle. He grabbed a couple of napkins to wipe the rest off his face before thoughtfully taking a few moments to clean the whipped cream from Richie's hair, ruffling it with the napkin. It low-key made Richie blush but he hid it well, caught off-guard with the surprising small act of kindness.

They talked for a while, catching up on whatever each one of them was doing. Ben and Bev were currently on a houseboat with their dog living a life of luxury, the two of them truly happy for the first time in their lives. Mike was travelling Florida and loving it, telling the guys about the amazing sights, views and attractions, certainly enjoying his life to the fullest. Bill was working on his endings and getting positive feedback from Audra, namely, who was helping him work through any possible outcome and his occasional writer's block.

The two paid the bill and left the waffle house an hour later, completely full and well caught up with their friends. Bev insisted on creating a group chat right away so they could all always keep in touch easily. Both Eddie and Richie's phone pinged with the notification of the Loser's Chat they were added to as they sat down in Richie's car.

"You're not in a massive hurry to get your shit from New York, are you?" Richie asked as he started the car.

"No rush at all. I'm kind of putting off seeing Myra again but it's something I have to do if I want my shit. I mean, It's just clothes and a few personal items, everything can be replaced, it's just..."

Richie smiled reassuringly at him, gently placing a hand on Eddie's shoulder "I get you. I was thinking that it would be a crime to come to New Hampshire and not see the White Mountains. I mean, it's on the way anyway,"

"Oh I am so down for that," Eddie enthused.

Richie grinned, driving out of the parking space "Due West."

Chapter Text

"This is fucking beautiful," Richie stated as he and Eddie trudged through one of the many nature trails in the White Mountains National Forest. "So fucking... green,"

"Always a poet, Tozier," Eddie mumbled bluntly.

"I've always wanted to come here, hearing about how vast and brilliant the views are. Growing up the next state over doesn't give many excuses to not come here, but between the parents not really parenting me and the, uh, whole killer clown thing, I guess none of us really got much chance to get out of Derry until, well. Until we all actually left."

Eddie stayed silent, listening to Richie's words and finding his own truth in them. There was no way Sonia Kaspbrack would ever let Eddie go to another state without her, and there was no way in hell that she herself would go to a gigantic forest of all places. Or anywhere outdoorsy for that matter. Too many risks, bugs, mud, dirt, the lot of it. That's what she would say. Too many chances to trip and break a bone. Eddie detested many things about his upbringing, but that was a major part of it aside from the lies and deceit his mother held him captive to his whole pre-adolescent life. He never had a proper holiday or a hike in the mountains. The closest he got to outside freedom and adventure was with the Losers.

The drive there wasn't too long, probably just another hour as Richie drove them along the Saco River, past the Halfway Brook and found the perfect place to park just past Bemis Brook. Eddie's wound started to throb numbly, cringing at the dull ache. He popped a couple of painkillers and controlled his breathing until the pain subsided, ignoring Richie's knowing look. They started walking down a clearly marked path into some woods, the midday sun shining rays through the canopy of leaves and branches above them. They laughed about their lack of proper hiking wear with Richie sporting Converse and jeans as well as Eddie's casual polo-shirt-jacket combo.

"We don't have to go mountain climbing," Richie promised "Just a good ol' fashioned walk through the woods,"

It'd been literally years since Eddie had stepped into such a beautiful setting. Birds singing and flying from tree to tree, the air so fresh he swore he could taste the difference between city air and country air. For all of his insane health habits, Eddie couldn't actually reason as to why he ever chose one of the busiest cities in the world over somewhere so pure and fresh, like, somewhere in the mountains. Or by the sea. Surely years of city dwelling would wreak havoc on his lungs, the toxic pollution poisoning his body as bad as smoking would-

"You ever heard of how many people go missing in National Parks, Eds?"

"Don't call me- wait, what?" Eddie scoffed incredulously.

"Yeah, I've read up on this shit. True crime and unsolved mysteries really get my blood pumpin'. It's something crazy like in the hundreds every year at least. It's well into the thousands now. I guess animal attacks could explain away a few, but those attacks leave clear signs which are always absent in these cases."

Eddie sighed, a bit freaked out and already regretting his next words "What do you think they are then?"

"I'm glad you asked Edward," Richie cleared this throat, putting on his detective voice. Yep, Eddie was definitely regretting this already. "Most of these people are physically fit and experienced hikers or hunters. Loads are intelligent with high IQ's. A lot have even taken the same route previously, so they're kind of familiar with the area. Don't ask why, but the majority of the victims are guys. Guys like you and me."

Eddie threw him a stern glare "Are you kidding me?"

Richie huffed. "Usually, yeah," His tone turned serious, darker. "but when it comes to the unsolved, I never kid. Honestly dude, look it up some time it's really interesting."

Eddie hummed in response.

"Huge search parties, tons of press coverage, though without explanation searches are halted after a week or so usually." Richie continued. "I guess they just give up. They say to never enter a quiet woods, and a lot of these cases, the friends and families of the missing say the woods suddenly go dead quiet. Eerie. Like, no bird song or anything."

Eddie could feel goosebumps prickle his skin as Richie spoke.

"The disappearances are often followed by extreme bad weather pretty much out of nowhere, rain, snow, winds, thick fog. And this usually hinders the searches too. Usually, it takes a moment, just a moment for the person to briefly separate or just disappear for them to never to be seen again. Even with extensive searches, bloodhounds, the lot. Pretty much all of these cases, the canines can't even pick up a scent - which is really fucking weird."

Eddie kept his head down, relishing the sound of twigs snapping beneath his feet in a somewhat comforting manner. "These people... are they ever found?"

Richie shrugged in Eddie's peripheral view "Some people are found alive, not loads, literally only a handful. There are correlations with them as well; generally found near boulders for some fuckin' reason. They usually seem well-fed, rested and well kept despite being missing for days. Weirder, all the found victims, kids, adults and everything only feel like they've been gone for a few hours." Richie sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he walked. "Gets weirder, too. In more of these cases you can even imagine, the missing end up removing their shoes. In mountainous or forested terrain, why would they do that? Then when the missing are found dead, it's hard to pinpoint the cause of death. In almost all of these cases, the areas the bodies are found had already been thoroughly searched."

"That's bizarre dude," Eddie glanced over at his friend, studying the frown beneath his thick-rimmed glasses. There was a serious and solemn look in Richie's eyes, one Eddie has only seen a handful of times throughout the entire time he'd known Richie. This rare look was usually saved for the very rare moments, such as the time Richie complained to Eddie about how much his parents abused alcohol. That night Richie invited him for a sleepover not long after the first time they had defeated Pennywise, Richie sort of broke down in an anger-filled rant about how his parents hadn't returned for a couple of days on one of their benders without even leaving any food in the house. Eddie remembers the pained and devastated look on his face, eyes desperate for any excuse as to why his parents were so shitty besides the glaringly obvious fact that they didn't care about their son. It hadn't been the first time his parents had done this though, and it was far from the last. Richie had learned from this by saving a small stash of money in his sock drawer for pizza for these very occasions. So that's exactly what they did. Ordered pizza and played video games (Eddie went easy on Richie and let him win like a true friend would) until they passed out in Richie's beanbags at 3 am. Richie never let his emotions show about stuff like his parents' neglect that clearly bothered him save for this one time that was just between him and Eddie.

Or, when Sonia Kaspbrack would manipulate Eddie into staying in and looking after her instead of letting him play outside with his friends like any other normal fourteen-year-old kid. One day when Richie called by the Kaspbrack house, he overheard Eddie's mother complain to him that he doesn't love her enough if he were to go out, that he was a terrible son, that for everything she does for him, he gives nothing back. Richie stepped back from the door he had his ear pressed to as he heard Eddie's quick little footsteps barreling down the hall, pulling the door open, grabbing Richie by the wrist to drag him away from the house and down the street until he stopped once he was far enough, spinning around, hot angry tears pricking his eyes. He pressed his face into Richie's chest, quietly sobbing as Richie's long arms wrapped around the smaller man, comforting the boy with soft murmurs of it's okay's and let it out's into Eddie's hair, curls ticking his nose. They walked down to the barrens once Eddie was calm, though quieter than usual, Richie couldn't help but let slip "That's fucking bullshit, how she treats you," his tone came across sharper than he meant, though he stood by it. They sat down on some rocks and talked it out. That was the second time Eddie had seen that look in Richie's eyes, so serious and intense. A mixture of anger, confusion, frustration and sorrow.

And as they were walking through the White Mountains National Forest, discussing multiple disappearances, Richie had that very same expression he had all those years ago as a kid. "What's bothering you?" Eddie asked, sincere and open.

"It's just. It's not just adults who disappear without a trace in these forests. Happens to a load of kids, too. Too many," Richie inhaled sharply, lips pressed together in a line. "I'm just, what... what if there's other shit happening all over? Y'know, like..."

"You mean like Pennywise?"

Richie nodded, swallowing hard "Yeah. Although, maybe not like a fucking clown or anything. I dunno. It could be anything, I guess. Think about all these cryptids, all these age-old stories of creatures and unexplained shit. What we lived through, Eds, what we defeated, I wouldn't be surprised if that's not the only batshit crazy thing out there,"

As much as Eddie didn't want to agree, or even think about it, he couldn't help but do just that. "I think there is," He spoke just above a whisper. "I mean, it'd be pretty much impossible for there to just be one alien-monster-fuck, and for us, of all people, kids from Maine of all places, to experience it."

"Totally, I mean, look at Bigfoot-"

"You think Bigfoot is real?" Eddie scoffed, a grin slowly breaking onto his face.

"It wouldn't be crazy, from what you just said-"

"That's it, we sound crazy. We've gone nuts."

"That's fresh air for ya spagheds, opens your mind up to all sorts of ideas," Richie wiggled his eyebrows.

He entertained the idea. Surely, from what they've witnessed with Pennywise it couldn't be all that crazy. "I guess Bigfoot would have to be native to the planet though, I mean, big-hairy-ape-man sounds a lot more Earthly than a spider-clown transformer."

"Oh definitely. I bet Bigfoot's a good guy, too. Just living his life out in the deepest depths of nature, not hunting down kids." Richie said way too matter-of-factly for the topic.

"You do realise that if there's a Bigfoot he's not the only one? He's got a whole family, dude. Mrs Bigfoot and his kids, Smallfeet-"

"Smallfeet!" Richie erupted into hysterical laughter, doubling over, almost falling on his ass.

"Yeah dude, Bigfoot relatives all over the world. Sasquatch, you got the Yeti in the Himalayas," Eddie started counting off the names on his fingers, watching Richie with a smirk playing on his lips as he was wiping his eyes laughing still. "Almas in Asia,"

"Australia has the Yowie," Richie managed to say through bursts of laughter.

"There's that, and the, uh, Wendigo I think?"

"Oh dude," Richie straightened himself out, widened his eyes, tone turning mockingly dark "That's a whole 'nother territory. Also, they're definitely bad,"

"Hey, cryptids are cryptids-"

"You cannot seriously imply that the Wendigo has any relation to the Bigfoot family,"

Eddie shrugged "Who knows, let's throw Nessie in there too,"

Richie was back to doubling over with laughter, gasping dramatically for air.

"Do you think there are any out here now?" Eddie asked, tone growing timid.

"Maybe," Richie chuckled, still composing himself "I've heard tons of Bigfoot stories coming from New England, we're in prime Squatch country, my friend,"

"Dude," The two started walking further down the trail again "tell me you didn't bring me here for this,"

"For..."

"Searching for fucking Bigfoot!"

"This is just a happy coincidence, Eduardo, I can promise you that. Besides, do I look prepared to go hunting any sort of mammoth-sized gorilla man?" Richie gestured to himself. "If anything, we would be the ones being hunted,"

"Okay that's enough dude I'm already on edge as it is,"

"If you stay really still," Richie pressed a hand on Eddie's chest, stopping them both in their tracks, leaning in to stop inches away from Eddie's face, looking him dead in the eyes. Eddie fell completely still, feeling Richie's warm breath on his face "You might just hear Mama 'Foot running through the trees, hungry for some Eddie meat with two smaller, though still scary looking Smallfeet following behind," Richie grabbed Eddie's wrist, pulling him down the path in a hurry. Picking up the pace, the two were running through the forest, Eddie just behind Richie, laughing as the taller man cupped a hand near his mouth to imitate what sounded like a gorilla call.

"Shut the fuck up, Richie," Eddie panted as they came to a stop at a fork in the path. He absentmindedly patted his pockets for his inhaler before he realised he didn't need it. Placebo.

"Oh, like you could do a better Squatch call,"

"Oh I definitely could but if they are out here why the fuck would we wanna give away our position?"

"Jeez, you would make a terrible Squatch hunter," Richie shot him a playfully disapproving look.

"That's because I'm not a hunter you fucking cave troll. I would be more of an explorer. I'm here to observe, not to harm. And definitely not here to be maimed by fucking Yeti,"

Richie laughed, probably too loud but there was no one else around for him to care. "Choose your pick Eddie boy, left or right?" He gestured to the paths splitting before them.

Eddie chose to go right which led them downhill for a good ten minutes before coming across a clearing. Richie ran ahead a few steps and jumped onto a rock jutting out of the ground.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me, Eddie! Look!" He shouted excitedly, pointing out in front of him.

"Dude seriously," Eddie slowly jogged to keep up with the man "You have way too much energy. This is definitely the sugar from earlier,"

He slowed once he reached the mouth of the clearing, marvelling at the sight before him; a spectacular waterfall cascading into the bluest pool, clear enough to see the shallow bed of rocks beneath it surrounded by wildflowers of every colour and lush tall trees reaching to touch the light blue sky above them.

"Good call, Eds. You've led us into a fucking fairytale!" Richie pulled his friend into a side hug with one arm around his shoulder. He turned to Eddie with a look of pure contentment, eyes flicking over his face "If big momma Squatch did bludgeon me to death right now on this very spot, I would be happy that this would be the last sight I'd ever have to see," He didn't mean for the tone to come off as sincere as it did, but he meant it enough to not take it back. And Eddie wasn't going to question if he meant the waterfall or Eddie, the man he was actually gazing at in this very moment, because his cheeks were already turning pink at the thought.

"Alright Tozier you little sap," He blushed, lightly pushing Richie's arm off of his shoulders.

Richie grinned in response and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. He walked closer to the water and took a series of photos of the falls, the surrounding scape of trees and foliage opening up to the clear blue sky followed by a candid photo of Eddie facing the water with a small smile on his face. That one was easily Richie's favourite. He sent them to the Losers Chat immediately thanking the network gods for his two bars of signal his phone was able to connect to. It took no longer than a minute for the replies to come flooding through.

Bev

13:38

oh my god you guys that is BEAUTIFUL where are you??

Mike

13:38

Woah! What a view (no offence Eddie but don't flatter yourself I was referring to the waterfall that had fallen straight out of a Bob Ross painting)

Bill

13:39

Where's this? Nice btw

Bev

13:39

mike! rude! eddie this is my favouritest ever picture of you. props to richie for taking it, but props to YOU for looking so darn cute!

Ben

13:40

I second Bev. Eddie you are one hell of a photogenic man daaaaamn

Richie chuckled at his phone, sending a reply.

Richie

13:41

somewhere in the white mountains. we're looking for bigfoot, no big deal. eddie does look scrummy, ben, stop your flirtation you've got yourself a woman let ME have the man, gosh darn you know i can't compete with you with your devilish good looks and bodybuilder bod

Eddie pulled out his own phone after feeling the text spam vibrate against his thigh. "When did you take this?" He said with a small smile, probably due to the nice photo of him and not Richie's playful remark in the chat. Nope. Definitely not the latter.

Instead of answering, Richie walked back towards Eddie and took a selfie of the two before Eddie could protest. With the falls behind a grinning Richie and the forest behind Eddie who didn't have time to pose but still had the smile on his lips from before, this was easily Richie's favourite photo he had ever taken. It was his favourite photo ever for that matter. He captioned it Sasquatching and sent it to the chat.

"Eddie your cheeks are so pink I could just pinch them!" Richie exclaimed before reading the flood of responses.

Ben

13:43

Damn take me for a double

Ben

13:43

Also please tell me you know what Sasquatching is

Mike

13:44

Okay, this picture wins

Bev

13:44

you guuuuuuuuys!!!

Bill

13:44

You two look amazing. Audra agrees, she used the term 'glowing'.

Mike

13:45

p.s. what's Sasquatching?

Bev

13:46

i also have reason to believe ben may have a crush on the two of you

Ben

13:46

My dearest, my eyes are for you only. I am merely appreciating the male form in all its beauty from a subjective view

Richie

13:47

sounds pretty gay to me

Ben

13:47

Not even gonna attempt to argue this anymore

Bill

13:48

This group's dynamic just got a hell of a lot more interesting

Mike

13:48

p.p.s please at least remember the route you took because this place is already on my bucket list

Richie

13:49

oh mikey you gotta tell me more about this bucket list of yours ;))

Bill

13:49

Beep beep Richie

Eddie

13:50

seconded

Bev

13:50

Eddie!

Eddie

13:51

:)

"How are you so cute even over text," Richie mumbled, taking off his glasses and placing them down with his phone on the nearest rock before unbuttoning his pants.

"Woah this just went from zero to one hundred real quick-"

Richie laughed, expression honestly shocked and open at Eddie's response "Before you get too flustered Eds, I was just about to suggest we take a dip here, it would be criminal not to, I mean, look at the place,"

"One, don't call me Eds, two, I have an open wound on my chest you are seriously not that stupid-"

"It is not an open wound you dramatic little crispbread I was literally in the next room when they stitched you up,"

Eddie huffed "Well, open to infection. If you think I'm risking Cholera or Typhoid or Hep or-"

"This water is clearly so much cleaner than any Derry water," Richie argued.

"Okay, I'll compromise. Nothing above knee-level," Eddie sighed, but couldn't keep a smile off his face.

"Deal," Richie was already grinning. He pulled his shirt over his head to reveal a surprisingly very toned and modestly muscular chest, abs and set of biceps. Not that Eddie was looking.

It was a far cry from when the seven Losers jumped from the cliff in their tighty whities, now with Richie already splashing and swimming around in waters so blue to put the Bahamas to shame in a pair of very nicely fitting black briefs, (not that he was looking) almost matching Eddie's charcoal grey ones where he himself was dipping his feet into the cooling water, laid down on the riverbed, fixating on the green pine trees moving against the bright blue canvas of the sky ever so slightly in the warm breeze, anything to keep himself from looking at his friend Richie, especially when he'd call out "Eddie, Eddie! Look!" every couple minutes to show him a different kind of dive from one of the ledges by the falls or 'tricks' that consisted of handstands, backflips, cartwheels (or 'water-wheels as Richie called them) and any other mildly impressive acrobatic move that resulted in throwing himself into the water, splashing Eddie. Constantly.

It was difficult to keep a smile off his face with Richie acting like the happiest kid in the world. After everything they faced, the horrors, near-death experiences at the hands of a literal monster, Eddie was in total and complete admiration of how Richie kept his childlike optimism and truly appreciated the fact that it kept his spirits up.

For Richie, every second that Eddie was lying on the river bed, arms folded beneath his head to act as a cushion, topless and stripped down to his own underwear became harder for him to look away. So instead he dedicated this time to completely wear off his sugar high by splashing around in the water, more of a distraction from the even bigger distraction in front of him. He did notice Eddie's hipbones peaking over his boxers, accenting Eddie's happy trail which led to Eddie's tanned and toned abs oh god his abs, and the slight flex in Eddie's biceps every time he shifted his arms for a more comfortable position, and Eddie Eddie Eddie Eddie-

He knew he liked it and he knew exactly why he liked it. He just felt bad for lusting after his friend, his best friend who was going through a divorce from a woman, a man who liked women and not men. And definitely not men by the name of Richie Tozier.

"Watch this!" Richie yelled, snapping himself out of his own thoughts.

As Eddie propped himself on his elbows for Richie to appear in his line of sight, he watched as the energetic man submerged himself into the water. The smile on Eddie's face faded as fifteen seconds had passed. Twenty. Twenty-five. Thirty. Forty. "Richie?"  Forty-five. Fifty. "Dude!"

He waded into the water towards the area he last saw Richie. As impossibly clear as the water was, he couldn't see a thing beneath it with the intense sunlight glistening on the surface in a twinkling dance, moving with the soft ripples.

His mind raced towards the inexplicable and insane theories any half normal person would suppress with logic such as oh god this all isn't real this has been Pennywise fucking with me the entire time oh god oh god we're still in the lair aren't we I'm probably bleeding out on the floor this is the deadlights this is an illusion Richie's dead Bev's dead Mike-

All at once with a loud splash and gasp for air, Richie breaks out of the water behind Eddie, grabbing his waist for support. Eddie lets out a totally embarrassing yelp and spins around, swatting the man who was laughing awfully hard for someone who had just regained their breath.

"Richie what the fuck-"

"Dude, dude, oh Eds. I beat my personal record!" Richie was grinning, panting "sixty-eight seconds! Not bad for- why the fuck am I talking about that when I could be talking about that oh so adorable noise you just made!" He was practically squealing, obviously getting a thrill from teasing the smaller man.

Eddie was scowling, face scrunched up in a delightfully cute way Richie had trouble ignoring. "Shut the fuck up. You were literally under for a minute, how was I supposed to know if you were drowning or not!" He exclaimed. Richie was still laughing at him and Eddie glanced down at his own waist Richie had touched moments prior. He didn't dwell on how he could still feel the lingering burning sensation Richie's big hands left on his skin. He realised the water was up to his waist, too close to his bandaged area. "Dude you are so careless! Look! What if I had gotten this wet? I don't wanna end back up in a hospital for another two weeks, I'm sick of them as it is. I never wanna be in a hospital again, too many trips as a kid." He knew he was rambling, the same way he did when he was thirteen when he'd go on one of his health-conscious tangents.

He didn't catch the way Richie's face softened but eyes still creased at the sides, training them on Eddie, noticing how the sunlight brought out a golden-reddish hue in his chocolate-brown hair, slightly olive sin bronzing in the rays.

Eddie was still rambling and Richie was still staring.

"What?" He said eventually, breaking Richie out of his hypnotic state. "Dickwad? Is there something on my face?" He raised his eyebrows threateningly, though he only looked worried as his features, naturally soft, betrayed him.

Eddie always looked that way, Richie thought. Aways had. Eyes big, brown and puppy-like with upward turning brows at the inner corners matching his shapely lips. Expressive, Eddie had a very expressive face. Expressive to convey emotion and fervour.

Eddie splashed water at him, causing the man's grin to return, spreading across his face. "Hello? Earth to Trashmouth,"

"Oh, you're finished? Sorry, I must've zoned out. I was just replaying sweet mental images of the tender nights your mom and I shared back in the old Derry days-"

"That's it, Tozier," Eddie said warningly before throwing himself at Richie, knocking them both into the water. Richie's laugh was silenced as he hit the water, the two of them resurfaced after a moment. Richie, still laughing, was spluttering slightly due to having swallowed a small mouthful of lake water as Eddie realised his chest had momentarily dipped into the surface of the lake.

"Shit, Rich! Shit shit shit, oh god man I'm gonna- I'm gonna get-" He started to hyperventilate slightly, lightly patting his bandages to test the moisture level.

"Calm down Edward you're not gonna get anything. That would be totally on you if you did, though, just sayin'," Richie shrugged.

"Typhoid, Cholera. Gangrene. I don't know! This shit could get infected, what did I say, I don't wanna go to another hospital, Rich!"

Richie rolled his eyes "You're not oh my god Eds. How's this, if you do, I promise to nurse you back to health and like, clean it and shit,"

"How would that change the situation! I'm not a fucking child and you don't have magic fingers-"

"Oh but I do have magic fingers-" He interjected coyly. Eddie ignored him as usual.

"I would need a doctor, Rich. But, fuck, no-"

"Hospitals, yeah I think I got that already," Richie smirked. Eddie huffed, crossing his arms. "I could play Nurse though, I'd make it sexy-"

"Richie," Eddie groaned in annoyance, throwing his head back. Richie's eyes were not instantly drawn to his exposed, wet neck. No, they were not.

"Alright, alright. If you get the fucking, I dunno, Black Death from this, I will pay for a live-in doctor. How's that?"

With a scowl adorning his face, Eddie still somehow managed to look bemused. "Better."

Richie nodded before turning his attention to the waterfall behind Eddie. "Follow me," Within seconds he was nearing the fall, water crashing down in front of him. It wasn't a huge waterfall, though large enough to inspire awe as Richie neared it.

Eddie just stared in disbelief. "If you think there's any way in hell I'd-" But Richie had already passed under it. He stared at the sheen of water, looking slick and actually pretty clean in all its glory. He sighed, finding himself nearing the blanket of water his friend had so casually walked through. He held his breath and clasped his hands over his bandage, y'know, for extra protection.

He opened his eyes once the feeling of the cool water pattering the top of his head had stopped. A cave. He was in a cave. Richie had led Eddie into a cave.

It wasn't too dark; he was able to see Richie clearly, giddily hopping out of the now shallow water and onto the bare rock cave floor. "How did you know this was here?" He sounded impressed. He was impressed, he just didn't want to give Richie the satisfaction.

"I didn't, but this is so fucking cool isn't it? Dude, do you think there's treasure in here somewhere?"

"How old are you again?" Eddie hopped out of the water to the not-so-dry land Richie was upon.

Richie smirked. "Ah, look at this. Just two dudes. In a cave. In their underwear."

As it dawned on Eddie, he suddenly felt exposed. Both of their underwear, soaking wet through, and Eddie was trying not to look. This was so inappropriate.

"Gosh Eds, don't be so weird. We used to do this shit all the time, no big," He said casually, shrugging but still smirking at the man.

Eddie shot him a look but got over his brief moment of insecurity. It wasn't too dark in the cave, but it wasn't too light either.

Richie broke the silence as he bellowed "This cave smells like dick!"

smells like dick, dick, dick

The cave walls bounced an echo through the caverns, travelling around them.

Eddie laughed. Richie was so damn dumb. "Richie Tozier is a virgin!"

Tozier is a virgin, a virgin, virgin

"See," He turned to Richie, a small smirk playing on his lips. "The cave knows all,"

"Oh do they?" Richie challenged him, raising an eyebrow. "Eddie's mom is a really shit lay!"

really shit lay, shit lay, lay

"You're right, the cave does indeed know all,"

"Richie sucks dick!"

Richie sucks dick, sucks dick, dick

"Oh, so I'm a dick sucking virgin, huh? Wouldn't you like to know," Richie huffed in amusement. "Eddie's a sloppy bitch!"

a sloppy bitch, sloppy bitch, bitch

Eddie was about to yell his comeback until a loud metallic crash bellowed from the depths. Eyes impossibly wide, he glanced at Richie, then into the darkness, and back at Richie. "What- what w-was that?" His voice trembled, barely above a whisper.

Richie was suddenly on edge himself, though he tried his best not to show it and put on a brave facade "It's probably a few rocks crumbling, I wouldn't worry too much abou-"

Another noise came from the back of the cave, this time a low grunt and a slow scrape of something... sharp sounding.

"Okay, what the fuck," Richie's eyes matched Eddie's comically large ones.

"Fuck this," Eddie whispered hurriedly, not thinking before he grabbed Richie's wrist with a vice-like grip, pulling him with him moving faster than he ever thought he could, back into the shallow pool and through the veil of water.

They were back out in the lake, Eddie wading through the water towards the patch of land their belongings were situated, still pulling Richie behind him. He climbed out of the water, scooping up their clothes in his arms, walking briskly to the further end of the lake.

"Wait up," Richie jogged behind him, absentmindedly touching his wrist where Eddie had been so keen to grip onto.

"Fuck, was, that," Eddie's voice shuddered from fear and adrenaline, throwing Richie's belongings at him, quickly patting himself dry with his jacket before slipping his clothes and shoes back on. Richie opened his mouth to answer but Eddie cut him off "no, actually, don't say it, don't you dare,"

Richie gave him a look, a look which read you fucking know it. You're thinking it too.

Once they were changed, Richie fixed his glasses into place and they mutually agreed to get the fuck out of there and headed back towards the path they walked down. They walked faster, not exchanging many words but a few amused glances, snickering between each other and checking behind them every once in a while to assure themselves of their level of safety.

They eventually reached Richie's car.  They climbed in without a word and shut the doors.

"That was..." Eddie trailed off, not finding any words to articulate his thoughts.

"Yeah," Richie huffed. They turned their heads to each other and broke out into a fit of laughter, adrenaline still pumping through them. After they calmed down, Richie was the first one to speak "I'm gonna inform the others of our near-death experience," He pulled out his phone that he'd stuffed into his pocket.

Eddie clicked his tongue, mumbling "And I thought I was the dramatic one," before pulling out his own phone.

Richie

15:42

so we found a cave

Bill

15:43

A cave?

Richie

15:43

behind the waterfall

Bev

15:44

a WATERFALL cave?!?

Eddie

15:44

a real hidden gem

Richie

15:44

until

Mike

15:45

Until? You guys good?

Richie

15:45

until we realised it was bigfoot's fucking LAIR

Bev

15:45

WHAATTTTTT

Bill

15:45

What did you see?

Ben

15:46

You found a bigfoot cave?

Richie

15:46

we almost died

Eddie

15:46

he's totally exaggerating, but it was damn scary

Bill

15:47

But what did you SEEEEE

Richie

15:47

it's not what we saw, but what we heard. we shouted into the caves. seeing whose side the echoes were on

Ben

15:47

Of course

Eddie

15:48

we hear a CLANG like, a very un-rock-like clang

Richie

15:48

followed by a fucking GRUNT like, a human but animalistic fucking grunt and a scraaaaaape from the depths of the deep dark cave. bone. chilling.

Bev

15:49

shit really??

Bill

15:49

You know real life doesn't mimic Skyrim, right Rich?

Richie

15:49

nerd

Ben

15:50

What happened? Did you see whatever it was??

Eddie

15:50

didn't stick around long enough

Mike

15:51

daaaamn

Richie

15:51

eddie fuckin saved the day though. you shoulda seen him. got me outta there like a damsel in distress

Bev

15:52

you'd think it'd be the other way around

Eddie

15:52

the fuck is THAT supposed to mean beverly

Bev

15:53

nothing dear :)

Eddie

15:53

:(

Bill

15:54

We fought off a space clown. You guys can't handle a little Bigfoot action?

Richie

15:54

you listen HERE big bill. we weren't prepared

Eddie

15:54

we weren't prepared

Ben

15:55

You guys do realise it was probably just an animal. A bear, bears like caves

Richie

15:55

you weren't there! you didn't hear it!

Ben

15:55

Or a person

Eddie

15:56

equally as scary tbh

Bev

15:56

is it though?

Bill

15:57

Mike should've found you guys a ritual

Mike

15:58

I'll get one for you guys next time. Give me a heads up yeah? I gotchu

Richie

15:58

oh yeah like fuck am i doing that shit again

Bill

15:59

You guys would make lame Bigfoot hunters. Running at the first sign of danger?

Richie

15:59

sorry bill but i do enjoy having my head on my shoulders and not rolling on a cave floor

Bev

15:59

i say we leave bigfoot be.

Ben

16:00

Just an ape-man living his life

Mike

16:00

He's probably a chill dude

Eddie

16:01

seconded

"Right," Richie put away his phone and turned the ignition, "I say we hit the road, how bout you Eds?"

"Name's not Eds," He mumbled, "where next?"

The car rumbled to life as Richie exclaimed, "Vermont baby!"