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Eddie had kissed him back.
Richie was sure of it, and that in itself was far more than he was expecting to happen. Not that it was planned, they were alone in the backyard of his house and they were talking like they usually talked half joking half arguing. And as happened many times he thought about kissing Eddie, but that day for the first time that thought resulted in an action. And for about three seconds Eddie did nothing and for two seconds Eddie had kissed him back, and then Eddie ran.
He didn't run far, Richie found him in an alleyway very, standing stil and staring at the brick wall. At first he wasn't sure if he should approach or not, but after five minutes of watching Eddie standing there with no sign that he intended to move Richie went to.
"Hi Eddie"
"Hi" Eddie said without looking at him.
"So are you freaking out right now?"
"No Richie, I'm not freaking out!"
"I'm asking because you're staring at the wall for a while now and I'm starting to think I broke you."
“It takes a lot more than a kiss to break me Richie”
"The evidence suggests otherwise"
Eddie finally stopped looking at the wall and looked straight at him.
"Why did you do that ?"
He was embarrassed, but denying what he felt now was no longer a plausible option. And besides, Eddie had kissed him back, even if only for a few seconds. This was so much more than he had imagined, it was enough to make him feel more hopeful than scared now.
“Why do you think Eddie? Why do people kiss other people? ”
“I'm not asking why people do what they do, I'm asking why you did it”
“Because I like you, and I've liked you for a while now. But if you don't want me to do it again, I won't do it. We can forget that this happened, alright? ”
Eddie hesitated for a moment.
"That's not what I want exactly"
"So what do you want ?"
“Just a little warning, next time tell me before you do it okay? Don't just go putting your mouth in other people's mouths when they're not expecting, it's rude. ”
"Okay ... when you say a little warning you mean a minute earlier, or you're thinking more of something like me sending you a letter a week earlier or-"
“At least ten seconds in advance”
"So if I said I intend to kiss you in ten seconds would you be sufficiently warned?"
"Yes"
"Then I'll kiss you in ten seconds, okay?"
"Okay"
And Richie began to count mentally. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. But before he got to four Eddie pulled him by the shirt and kissed him first.
And Richie kissed him back, as he always knew he would.