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Eddie and Richie have created a habit of sneaking out at night to drive around ever since Richie got his own car on his last birthday. They drive around town and listen to music. Richie always taking Eddie to quiet places where they can look at the stars.
So like many other nights before, Eddie finds himself in the passenger seat of Richie's car while one of Richie's mixtapes is playing. Fast car comes on and Richie turns the volume up predictably; he loves this song. Eddie turns his face towards him and smiles fondly, Richie’s own smile almost too big for his face. He looks content, carefree expression on like this is exactly where he's meant to be. Like being with Eddie is all he needs to feel happy.
He examines his best friend’s side profile, looks at eyes that aren’t all that big behind his thick glasses, a big nose that Eddie finds endearing, mouth that sings along to one of his favorite songs with so much passion. He's sure the love struck look he has on right now is really obvious. And the thing is that Eddie truly adores Richie, there's nothing he can do about it.
The night is comfortably warm, the sky clear and bright, filled with stars. He's by Richie's side. He feels right. It’s almost like he’s looking back through an old memory. He closes his eyes and inhales deeply.
“Richie,” He hears the other boy stop singing and Eddie assumes he turns to look back at him, can even picture a soft smile on his face.
“Yeah?”
Trying to convey all the bravery he has inside himself he opens his eyes and fixes them on Richie's. They look at each other for a few seconds and the fondness in Richie's face is so strong that there's nothing else Eddie can think of except I love you, I love you, I love you.
“I love you.” He says quietly, softly.
The smile on Richie's face drops an inch and he blinks a few times. “I love you too, Eds.”
Eddie frowns at his reaction but doesn’t have the time to properly react to it since Richie is suddenly pulling over. They have apparently reached the quarry; Eddie didn't even know this is where they were headed.
The car stops and they just sit there for a while, letting the current song fill in the space between them. Richie’s avoiding his eyes, the tension in shoulders very clear in his stilled movements. Eddie is not sure what to make of it but he’s determined to let Richie know what’s been going on in his mind.
“Richie, I love you.” He says again, more firmly, and a shaky breath leaves Richie before he turns over, his eyes tracing Eddie’s face over and over again trying to find any doubt that may lace his words.
To try to reassure him Eddie reaches over and puts a hand on his face. Richie closes his eyes as soon as their skin makes contact, leaning into his touch. Eddie is so overcome with the force of his feelings that his frown comes back. He’s not sure he’ll be able to hold all of his love inside of him. His voice strains as he speaks. “I love you so, so much, Rich.”
Still with his eyes closed Richie turns his head a little so he can kiss Eddie’s palm and that’s when he notices that there are tears running down Richie’s face.
“Yeah, Eds, I love you too.”
Very calmly, Eddie lifts his other hand to wipe the tears with his thumbs. “Look at me, Richie.” And he looks so vulnerable when he lifts his eyes to Eddie’s- it’s like Eddie could break him in this very moment. He notices he’s still searching Eddie’s face. Eddie smiles softly.
“Can I tell you something?”
Richie nods so Eddie moves to get more comfortable in his seat; he needs to be able to look properly at Richie while saying what he has to say. He takes Richie's hand in his and starts to play with his fingers to try and comfort his friend, making sure his eyes don’t leave his face. If he’s honest, he just can't stop looking at him, keeps thinking about how much he loves his eyes and everything that makes Richie so… Richie. The corners of his lips pull up in a soft smirk.
“I think I've been in love with you since the first time we met.” Richie stills once more, the tension coming back to his body full force, his eyes going wide. Eddie lets out a laughs and looks down to their joined hands. “Yeah, I don’t think I've ever known what it is to not be in love with you? My heart has known yours from that very first moment, I think. I couldn't get enough of you ever since. All I've ever done from that moment on was to try and get you to recognize mine too.” He swallows and squeezes Richie’s hand, looks up once more.
“I feel like I can't breathe whenever you're not looking at me, Richie. I feel like I’m always trying to do everything in my power to get it back- to get you to look at me. And then you do. You always look back at me and I’m fine again.” Eddie takes a deep breath to steady himself, this is really it, he thinks. “Richie, I know we're just kids and fuck, I don’t even know if you feel the same but what I do know is that I want to spend my life with you. In whichever way you'll have me. You can say no to this and you can pretend this never happened once we go back but I want to be with you.”
“I've been thinking- I’ve actually been thinking about this for so long but now we're old enough and I need to say it and mean it.” He laces their fingers together. “Run away with me. Let's get out of this fuck town and move on. Let's get a cheap apartment, I don't care where, we can work for it but- run away with me. I love you so much and I have felt this love running through me every second of the day since the very first time I saw you and I just want us to be happy and away from here.”
“I want us to build something for ourselves and we'll figure it out as we go. We'll know who we are with each other. I just need you to be by my side cause I don't think I could ever find myself if we were apart. You're home, you know? I have found my last stop. This is it for me.” He laughs self deprecatingly, thinking about how cheesy he sounds. “Just- I know this is a lot and I'm sorry to overwhelm you but I love you. I love you. I love you so much.”
He can feel his own eyes swell with tears as he takes in Richie state. The boy is quietly sobbing, his shoulders shaking with the force of it. Eddie’s whole body runs cold with worry. He didn't mean to upset Richie this much. He lets go of his hand and starts wiping away Richie’s tears desperately. “No, no, no, Richie. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's okay. Please don't cry, I’m so sorry.” But all Richie does is take hold of the hands on his face to place to start pressing kisses into his palm and to the inside of his wrists. Slowly he nods. “Yeah, Eddie. Yes, I love you so much. Fuck. I love you. I love you more than anything. Let's do it.”
He closes his eyes and more tears spill down his face. He lets a shaky breath. “You're all I've ever known, Eddie. You're it for me too. I want- I want to have a life with you. I want to go home. I always want to go to you. Yeah. Let’s do it.”
The last words come out as a whisper and Eddie’s heart is beating so fast he's afraid he'll have a heart attack. He nods and moves forward to rest his forehead against Richie's. Then he closes his eyes and strokes Richie's nose with his own.
“Can I kiss you?” He whispers.
“Yeah.” Richie answers quietly.
So Eddie does. Very softly he touches Richie's lips and pulls away just so he can angle his face to have better access to him, Richie's lips open up easily under his. He feels all the air pull out from his lungs when he feels Richie's tongue against his, the other boy letting out a whimper. Eddie pushes more firmly against him and lets his hands go to Richie's hair. They kiss like their lives depend on it and there's fire running all over his body.
He decides to climb onto Richie's lap cause he feels like he’s going to combust if he doesn’t get closer to him and when he does, Richie’s hands automatically go to his waist, squeezing it. Eddie has to pull away to let out a breath, all of this being almost too much for him. He looks down at Richie, at his pink mouth, the way his head is thrown back to look back up at Eddie and the desire on his face is so strong and so real that Eddie is sure he dies a little.
“I love you.” Richie says and Eddie kisses him again. He’s pretty sure this is what being home feels like. This is heaven and hell combined, it’s all over the place and it's the best thing Eddie has ever experienced. He runs his thumbs over the sides of Richie's face and bites his lower lip. Eddie pulls back to sit more firmly on Richie's lap and Richie is so open and willing under him that he kisses him one, two, three more times on the lips and starts to trail kisses all over his face. Richie starts to smile and Eddie loves him so fiercely he doesn't know anything but him. Richie starts to run his hands up and down his back and Eddie finally settles down with his face in the crook of Richie's neck. Richie kisses his hair.
“I love you, Eds. I'll go anywhere you want to go. Of course I’ll go.”
Eddie sighs in contentment, keeps his fingers on Richie's hair and they go back and forth kissing each other tenderly. And this is it. They'll leave. They'll leave and they'll have a chance and they'll be home. They already are home. God, they’re finally home.