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It all happened too quickly. Richie was caught in the deadlights. Eddie decided to show bravery for once. The spear hit Pennywise exactly where he’d hoped it would, giving him the opportunity to run toward Richie in celebration. Grabbing him by his arms, shaking him only slightly, and happily setting himself on Richie’s lap distracted him as he got lost in his own excitement.
Then the stabbing was too close.
If Richie hadn’t moved their position so that he was able to hug the man on top of him, Eddie would have been a goner.
This wasn’t far from that, though.
“Eddie, I--” he was cut off mid sentence, a sudden scream pulling him back into reality. Richie’s eyes quickly maneuvered to where Eddie was impaled.
Immediately struck with pain, Eddie simply collapsed onto Richie, unable to do much else with fear wracking his body. Beverly screamed at this, the angle making his injury appear much worse from her point of view.
“Sh-shit. Eds, Eddie, look at me,” Richie lifted Eddie as carefully as possible, afraid that Pennywise’s next move may be the last one they witnessed. “we need to get you out of here,” his voice trembled as he spoke.
“Richie, the ritual-- it isn’t done yet,” Mike protested, watching the scene from where he stood.
“I couldn’t give less fucks,” Richie snapped, wanting nothing but to get Eddie out of the fucking house.
“Richie, we--” Bill began but stopped after objects were thrown his way. Pennywise managed to remove himself from the spike that he’d landed on, making the situation worse than it already was.
“Fuck. Guys, what do we do?” Ben yelled, hoping someone would have an answer. Everyone was clueless.
“It doesn’t fucking matter if we kill it or not! Eddie is hurt,” Richie paused, trying to view Eddie’s injury but found it difficult to do in the lighting and situation they were in. “we need to get him out of here,”
“H-how are we s-supposed to do that?” Bill managed to yell in return.
And that was when it all clicked.
“ There’s more than one way to make someone small.”
“Make him believe that he is.”
The Losers threw insults and facts at Pennywise until he had shrunk to his smallest size possible. The process was over when they’d all grabbed at the heart with intent to kill the clown that had taken too many people’s lives. As soon as it ended, the group returned to Richie and Eddie in a flash.
“C’mon. We can make it through the tunnel if we’re fast enough,” Mike spoke.
“Eds, come on,” Richie attempted to stand with Eddie in his arms.
It didn’t work.
Eddie wailed out as a sudden jolt of pain made its way through his body. He trembled from head to toe as Richie carefully let him down, rubbing his face in exhaustion and stress.
The walls of the house above the group began to collapse, almost like a countdown.
“We don’t have time for this. Let’s go,” Richie pulled Eddie up from under his arms and slung his stronger arm over his shoulders, ignoring Eddie’s cries of protest.
The Losers made their way out of the cave at their own pace, as Richie had told them all to run as fast as they could. They made it out of the house with time to spare, leaving Richie and Eddie moving at a pace that was almost too slow. The stairs were the worst part. Eddie couldn’t put any weight on one side of his body. The pain was getting increasingly worse with every step taken. It got to the point where Richie had to drag him through the rest of the house.
The ground shook, threatening to collapse beneath their feet.
The front door remained open.
Dragging Eddie out with any amount of energy he had left, Richie moved their bodies down the front porch steps before throwing themselves onto the street where the rest of the group stood.
All in shock, The Losers stood and watched as the Well House crumbled to pieces, leaving nothing but dust and flat ground behind. Hardly a moment passed before Richie was putting all of his attention on Eddie again.
“Eddie, Eds. Look at me,”
Eddie was alive. He was breathing, but couldn’t find the strength in himself to open his eyes. He mumbled something incoherently, hoping that was enough for Richie.
It wasn't.
“Guys,” Richie looked up, finding everyone with concerned faces to match his own. “we need to get help,”
___________________________
Richie thread his fingers through his now clean hair, tilting his neck and feeling himself loosen up at the sound of it cracking. Regardless of his calm expression, his leg continued to bounce at an anxious pace. His eyes scanned the waiting room, hoping to find other people with similar expressions. He didn’t want to feel alone. The rest of the group had left to grab lunch while waiting to hear news, clearly having higher hopes than Richie, as he refused to leave, insisting that someone stay for Eddie.
Lost in his thoughts, he almost didn’t hear the door swing open, revealing a nurse with a small smile on her face. “Richie Tozier?” she spoke, glancing around to find the man she’d called.
Richie stood up too quickly, practically running towards the nurse. “Hi, that’s me. What’s going on?”
It had been two days since the destruction of the Well House. Two days since Eddie was stabbed.
Richie’s best friend.
His Eddie.
And those two days were the most stressful, sleepless days of his life.
“Come with me,” was all the nurse said in response, making Richie’s heart leap to his throat.
“Ma’am, I’m not trying to be rude, but these past days have made me lose my mind. Can you please just tell me if he’s okay?” He bit his lip, wanting so badly to hear a positive answer.
“He’s okay.” was all she said.
“Can you tell me more?” they rounded a corner, and Richie was losing it again. “is he going to heal quickly? Slowly? Does he still have full mobility on both sides of his body? Did he lose too much--” Richie shut up as soon as the door was pushed open to a room, revealing an extremely tired Eddie. “oh,”
The nurse chuckled. “I’ll let him answer all of that for you,” she then shut the door, leaving privacy for the two men.
“Eds,” Richie’s voice shook like it had when in the cave.
“Hey,” Eddie’s voice cracked slightly. He winced at this. “sorry. I haven’t done much talking since surgery,”
“You don’t need to apologize,” Richie shook his head disbelievingly. “are you okay?” He felt himself shuffle closer to the side of the bed, wanting to know everything.
Eddie nodded. “I’m perfectly fine, Rich. Just a little shaken up is all,”
“So you’re going to be okay?”
He nodded again.
“Oh, thank God,” It was Richie’s turn to allow a voice crack, but for a different reason. He finally let the tears spill that he’d been holding in for too long. He cried until he was borderline sobbing.
“Rich, come here,” Eddie motioned for Richie to sit next to the bed.
“Fuck. I’m so sorry, Eddie. I can’t believe this happened. I don’t know what I would have done if I lost you,” he paused, shaking his head. “I’ve been so fucking scared,”
“Hey, hey,” Eddie felt strangely calm, having been off pain medication for a while. He let his hand reach out to just barely graze Richie’s arm. “I’m okay,” his eyes showed promise as he spoke these words.
Richie nodded. “Eddie, I--” he paused, unsure of what to say, or how to say it. “I love you,” he said it so simply. So quickly. And it felt so right.
“I love you too, you idiot,” Eddie chuckled. Richie shook his head again.
“No, Eds. I’m in love with you,” the room got quiet then. “I have been since we were kids. I just forgot what it felt like to feel. You made me remember,” he avoided eye contact, not wanting to see Eddie’s reaction to the sudden confession.
“Well then,” Eddie suddenly spoke very clearly, catching Richie off guard. “that’s good to know.” Richie’s heart sank at this. He could hear the sarcasm dripping in Eddie’s tone. He could see it on his face. “would have been nice to know all those years ago, too,” he continued, unexpectedly. “or before I was impaled by a clown,” he finished, yawning.
Richie just sat there, frozen.
“What?” was all he said.
“You’re fucking stupid, Tozier,” Eddie rolled his eyes. “I love you, too,” he said.
“Yeah, you said that. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything--”
“Jesus Christ, Rich, I’m bisexual. I love you, too. Like, I-want-to-put-it-in-your-ass kind of love,” he finished, leaving Richie baffled.
“You’re not fucking with me, are you? Because I know I’ve pulled some horrible shit on you in the past, but this would just be cruel,” Richie babbled on and Eddie closed his eyes in frustration.
“Richie, come here,” He spoke so lowly it made Richie shiver. Nonetheless, Richie leaned in closer, expecting Eddie to say something for only the two of them to hear, even though the room was empty besides themselves. Rather than speaking, Eddie used his weak strength to cup Richie’s cheek, pull him down, and connect their lips briefly, leaving Richie breathless. It was short, but Eddie couldn’t do much more with the state his entire body was in. Eddie pulled back and sank into the bed, but Richie didn’t move. “was that as good as you dreamed it would be, Tozier?” Eddie’s eyes beamed in the slightest.
Richie came back to reality.
“No, actually. You’re a horrible kisser. Has anyone ever told you that? Because if not, you’ve got a lot of fake people in your life,” he decided to take the comedic route as usual, and chuckled when Eddie gave him the most disbelieving smile he’d seen.
“You’re only allowed to say that because I know you’re joking,” Eddie laughed, but winced as it gently shook his body.
“I’ll try not to make you laugh for awhile. Though, that could be difficult,” Richie’s heart grew soft as Eddie simply returned the comment with one of his own.
“I don’t mind laughing right now, as long as I’m laughing because of you,”
The room grew quiet. It was a comfortable silence that could have lasted hours, if they’d let it. Richie just couldn’t keep his mouth shut, though.
“Wait, who says you’re putting your dick in my ass?” Eddie suddenly grew red, regretting saying what he’d said. “what makes you think I’m a bottom bitch? Frankly, I’d love to see what you look like when you’re all fucked up from my dick being in your--”
“Jesus shit, shut the fuck up,” Eddie groaned, rubbing his face. “I regret saying anything,”
But the look on his face said otherwise.