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The snow was a surprise. It had been sunny the day before, not a cloud in sight, yet some time during the night it had arrived. It covered the ground in a white blanket, filling the world with a glittering, cold light.
Richie sees the snow and cheers, bundling up in his warmest clothes and rushing out the door with a goodbye thrown over his shoulder. He doesn’t know if his parents heard him, or if they’re even home, but he doesn’t care.
It snowed!
Richie has always loved the snow. He loved making snowmen and forts, loved throwing snowballs at cars and people alike. But more than anything else he loved …
Eddie is standing at his window, his arms crossed over his chest. Richie can see the frown on his face and he laughs, quickly scooping up a snowball to throw at the window. It explodes in a shower of icy flakes, making Eddie jump and turn his glare on Richie.
“No.”
Richie laughs again, pressing his gloved hands flat against the window. He gives Eddie his best puppy dog eyes, fluttering his eyelashes and jutting his lip out in a pout.
“C’mon Eds, come play.”
“Don’t call me Eds.” But Richie can see the smile glittering in his eyes, and he grins brightly.
“I promise not to shove any snow down your pants.”
“If you do I’m pushing you in the river.” Richie laughs and Eddie shoos him away from the window with a wave of his hand. “Go wait out front.”
Richie does as he’s told, collecting snow into a pile as he waits. He can see Mrs. K in the front window and he waves at her, laughing when she turns away with a huff, probably cursing him under her breath. Richie knows she hates him the most out of all the Losers, but he considers that an achievement, and he’s proud of it.
His snow pile is beginning to look vaguely human shaped when Eddie finally stomps out the door.
“I’m fine ma,” he yells. “I’m wearing two pairs of socks, I’ve got on the thermal underwear. I promise I’ll come back as soon as I start to feel cold!”
Richie thinks he hears Mrs. K say something about frostbite and blue toes, but Eddie is closing the door and rushing down the path to Richie. He freezes when he sees Richie’s snowman, his eyebrows creeping up his forehead.
“What is that?”
Richie looks at the snowman and laughs. “It’s you, Eddie Spaghetti!”
“It has boobs.”
“Those are you arms.”
Eddie doesn’t look convinced and Richie laughs again, throwing an arm around his shoulders to steer him away from the house. As they head down the road Richie takes the moment to look over Eddie’s outfit.
The real reason he loves the snow is because of Eddie’s coat.
It’s big and red and puffy, making him as squishy as a pillow and so fun to hug. Richie’s pretty sure the coat is supposed to be worn by an adult male, the bottom falling to just above Eddie’s knees, the sleeves bunched around his wrists, held up by the thick gloves over his hands. It’s Richie’s favorite coat of Eddie’s.
“You look like a marshmallow.”
Eddie pushes his shoulder and Richie laughs.
“Remember, no snow in the clothes.”
“I know, I know.”
They meet up with the rest of the Losers and the next couple of hours are filled with laughter and fun, but then the light begins to fade and people start making their way home and then it’s just Richie and Eddie again.
Richie drops to the ground beside Eddie. At some point he’d lost his hat and his hair is coated in snow, his ears stinging from the cold. Eddie looks at him and tsks his tongue, brushing his hands through Richie’s hair to get rid of the snow.
“Your face is red,” he says, gloved hands cupping Richie’s cheeks. Richie tries to control his heart, tries to not let his feelings show. It’s one thing to be in love with your best friend, another to actually admit it to him. “We should go inside.”
Eddie looks around like he might really leave and Richie grips his wrists without thinking. He doesn’t want Eddie to leave, he doesn’t want this day to end.
“I’m not cold.” Eddie looks at him, that concerned furrow forming between his brows. Richie wants to press his lips to that furrow, to Eddie’s cheeks, to his …
Richie shakes his head and smiles, tugging Eddie’s hands from his cheeks. He’s glad for the cold, his already red cheeks won’t give away his blush.
“Let’s build a snowman!” He leaps to his feet, tugging Eddie with him, ignoring his protests that it’s late and he’s cold.
“Richie,” Eddie whines, but Richie just drops his hands and begins piling the snow.
“C’mon Eds, you’re wearing like 50 layers. You can’t honestly tell me you’re cold.”
Eddie makes a face, but sighs and begins adding his own snow to the pile. Richie’s not sure how long they work on the snowman, but by the time they’re adding the finishing touches the last of the day’s light has fled.
“It looks like a monster,” Eddie says, standing next to Richie as they stare at their creation.
“I think he’s lovely.” Richie presses a kiss to the cheek of the snowman and wraps an arm around it’s shoulders. “He’s my new boyfriend.”
Eddie’s face screws up in a frown and Richie laughs, reaching out to tug Eddie against his other side.
“Don’t worry Eds, you can be my boyfriend too!”
Eddie struggles weakly against his hold, muttering his usual ‘don’t call me Eds’ . Richie laughs and then suddenly they’re falling, the snowman breaking in half, unable to hold their weight. They land in the snow with Eddie on top of Richie, who gets the wind knocked out of him. Eddie squeals, and Richie’s arm tightens around his waist, holding him closer. The jacket puffs between them.
“You promised I wouldn’t get any snow in my clothes!”
Richie laughs and gasps in a few breaths. “To be fair, I wasn’t the one that put it there.”
Eddie huffs and pushes himself up on Richie’s chest, staring down at him. His hat had fallen off leaving his hair a mess, his flushed cheeks glowing in the quickly disappearing light. Again Richie finds himself staring at Eddie and thinking about kissing him, and Eddie is staring back, something unknown glittering in his eyes.
“Eds-” Before Richie can say anything more he’s silenced with a kiss. Eddie’s lips are cold, but his breath is warm and Richie doesn’t think, can’t think. He just reaches up and curls one hand in Eddie’s hair, wishing he wasn’t wearing gloves, that he could feel Eddie’s hair slipping through his fingers.
Then the fact that he’s kissing Eddie registers in his mind and he jerks his head away, staring up at Eddie with wide eyes.
Eddie is staring back, his eyes as warm as melted chocolate, his mouth set in a determined line. Richie squirms under his gaze, becoming aware of how cold his butt is and the fact that they’re lying in what was once their snowman.
“You kissed me.”
“Yeah I did.”
“I … why ? I mean, not that I’m complaining.” He rushes to say. The last thing he wants is Eddie to think he didn’t want it, that he didn’t like it.
“Because, you were looking at me like … like that .”
“Like what?” Richie sits up, sliding his hands down to grip Eddie’s hips as he does. Eddie straddles him, and the light is completely gone now, but he can still make out the blush that scorches Eddie’s cheeks.
“Like you wanted me to.”
It’s Richie’s turn to blush, his entire body warming from the inside. He wraps his arms tight around Eddie’s waist, tugging him closer so he can bury his face in the puffy jacket. Eddie squirms and Richie feels his hands settle on his shoulders, squeezing softly.
“Did I-” he starts, but Richie doesn’t let him finish. He raises his head and presses his lips to Eddie’s in another kiss.
“No, I mean yes. Yes I wanted to kiss you, yes I wanted you to kiss me. Yes I want to keep kissing you.” His mouth hovers over Eddie’s, their breath mingling as fog between them. He wants to close the distance, he wants to hold Eddie close and never let him go. “You kissed me,” he says again, and his smile is the biggest its ever been.
Eddie groans and Richie presses another kiss to his mouth, laughing against his lips. He can’t help himself. He’s never felt happier.
Richie doesn’t care that it’s cold, or that he’s lost the feeling in his butt and toes. He wiggles against Eddie and slides is arms under the jacket, earning a yelp and a smack to his shoulders.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m cold Eds, warm me.”
Eddie tries to squirm out of his arms, but Richie’s grip is tight, and he laughs when Eddie smacks his face, leaving his hands on his cheeks.
“I told you I was cold hours ago!”
“Well why didn’t you make us go inside?”
Eddie’s scowl only lasts a moment before he’s laughing and he presses his forehead to Richie’s shoulder.
“You’re an asshole.”
“ You’re an asshole. Not sharing your coat when you have plenty of space.” He shakes his head and presses his cheek against the top of Eddie’s head. “Let me in,” he whines.
Eddie sighs but reaches up and unzips his coat, holding it open. Richie grins and presses himself tight against Eddie, and Eddie’s arms come around his back. He can’t actually zip up the coat with them both in it, but he hugs Richie tight anyway.
“Okay,” Richie says, voice muffled by Eddie’s chest. “We can go home now.”
“Like this ?”
Richie leans his head back just far enough to grin up at Eddie. “We won’t get cold.”
Eddie laughs and buries his face against Richie’s shoulder. “I think it’d be pretty hard to move.”
“We can do it.”
Richie stands up so suddenly that Eddie has to grab him tight to keep from toppling, and together they waddle forward a few steps.
“This isn’t working!” Eddie’s laughing and Richie grins.
“I could always carry you.” He wiggles his eyebrows and Eddie laughs harder, stepping away from Richie. Richie lets him go, dropping his arms from around Eddie’s waist. The absence of his warmth brings an instant chill to his body, and Richie shivers. “Now I’m cold again.”
Eddie zips up his jacket and grabs Richie’s arm, pressing himself tight against Richie’s side.
“Then we’ll just have to run home.”
And they do, laughing and kicking up snow as they go, and Eddie holds his hand the entire way.