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Eddie’s phone rings again, causing both boys to glance at the device. Eddie groans loudly, rubbing his face.
“Your mom again?” Richie teases, and Eddie glares at him.
“Who else would be calling me-” Eddie hisses, glaring at the phone. “17 times in the last hour?” He finishes, and Richie shrugs, sitting down and leaning back against the tree and putting his hands behind his head. He glances at Eddie for a moment as the shorter boy declines another call with a scowl.
He stares at Richie, raising an eyebrow. “You’re still cute.” Richie grins, and Eddie scowls, sitting down as well.
“Stop calling me that, and-” Eddie snaps, but before he can finish the sentence, his phone rings again. “Jesus fucking Christ.” He yells, and Richie laughs, crawling over to Eddie and putting his knees on either side of Eddie’s legs, straddling his lap. Eddie glares up at him, slight confusion on his face.
Richie just silently reaches for the mobile, declining another call from Eddie’s mom, and turning on airplane mode.
“Now she can’t call you anymore.” Richie says but Eddie glares even harder.
“Yes and now we don’t know if anything happens, do you have any idea how dangerous that is, what i-” Eddie stops as Richie kisses him, forcing him to shut up. Eddie huffs into the kiss, but kisses Richie back, eyes closing. Richie chuckles against him, and Eddie wraps his arms around Richie.
Richie grinds down on Eddie’s lap, and Eddie’s hands find Richie’s black curls. Richie allows Eddie to guide his head back and-
Eddie groans lightly as Richie’s phone starts ringing. Richie opens his eyes, turning his head back to Eddie and chuckling. He blindly reaches out, grabbing his own phone and glancing at the screen. He laughs loudly, showing Eddie the screen.
“You have my mom saved as ‘side hoe’?” Eddie scowls, grabbing the phone from Richie and pressing decline as well.
“Well yeah obviously, you’re my main-” Richie starts but Eddie clamps a hand over his mouth.
“Don’t even finish that sentence.” Eddie deadpans, but Richie quickly licks Eddie’s hand. “Richie!” Eddie screeches, pulling his hand back immediately. Richie barks out another laugh, and Eddie pushes him off. Richie lets out a soft oof, landing in the soft grass with an amused smile.
Eddie’s mom has obviously found out about their camping trip in the woods, which wasn't that surprising, but Eddie hoped it would take longer for her to find out. Still, he has already been gone for a whole night now, so she was bound to find out. The only reason why she hasn’t sooner was because of Richie probably.
Ever since Eddie stood up against his mom 3 summers back he has become more and more independent from her, even if she still tries to reign him in whenever she could.
“I should probably call her-” Eddie sighs, reaching for his own phone and standing up. He groans slightly, popping his joints. They had been walking through the woods for quite some time, and it was about time to get back to where they had their tent set up to sleep in.
It was from Richie’s parents, who had helped them set it up in their yard the first time, even though Richie had plenty of experience camping. His family went out more than once a year to go camping all over Maine. But Eddie still appreciated the gesture, enjoying the time he can spend with the Toziers.
“Or-” Richie says, reaching out and catching Eddie’s wrist. “you can just text her to tell her we’re fine, and we can continue what we just did.” Richie wiggles his eyebrows, and Eddie sighs. He bends down, kissing Richie quickly before taking his hand back.
“I’ll be quick.” Eddie says, and Richie grins up at him.
“That’s what she said.” He laughs, and Eddie rolls his eyes as he walks away. Eddie disappears into the bushes, and Richie watches him silently. He knows why his boyfriend did that, Eddie didn’t want Richie anywhere near his mom, including the phone calls.
It was something Eddie still hasn’t come to terms with after all these years, and despite all the jokes they both made, it was a sore point for Eddie. And it is also the reason wy Eddie was reluctant to even have Richie over when his mom was home, except for when Richie sneaks through the window.
Even if Eddie was always welcome at Richie’s home, and his parents frequently went out to dinner so Richie and Eddie had the place to themselves.
Richie chuckles to himself, reaching for his own phone to kill some time. Richie doesn’t know how long has passes before suddenly he can hear Eddie.
“Richie-” Eddie says, and Richie is immediately on edge at the tone of the voice, recognising the fear. Richie scrambles up, arting over to where Eddie has disappeared to and walking into a relatively open field, trees lined up, and under one of them… two cubs.
“Oh shit-” Richie curses, and the next sentence, the one where he would tell Eddie to back the fuck up, got lost in his throat when he sees where Eddie is looking. Richie’s eyes widen as he sees a grown bear, which has to be the mama bear, starting to run towards them.
“Eddie run,” Richie hisses, pushing Eddie away. Eddie’s eyes widen, trying to pull Richie away but Richie pulls his arm back harshly.
“Richie-” Eddie tries, he wasn’t going to leave Richie.. but that bear, there was no way they were fast enough. Was Richie going to sacrifice himself? Distract the bear long enough?
“I said run!” Richie yells, pushing Eddie away and whirling around. Eddie stumbles back, creating distance between them, too much distance. And Eddie is frozen as the bear charges at Richie. Eddie can’t even form any words, staring in complete shock as the bear runs over at Richie.
And Richie jumps forwards, skin ripping and shifting. Eddie’s eyes widen as Richie changes into a giant wolf, surrounded by black fur. The bear doesn’t let up, hellbent on protecting her cubs and strikes out. Richie, in his wolf form, ducks out of the way, growling dangerously low and charging.
He tries to sink his teeth into the bear’s neck, but he gets struck down fast.
“Richie!” Eddie gasps, and Richie yelps in pain, rolling over the ground. Eddie can see blood flying in the air, but Richie.. if it was still Richie.. just charges again. He jumps, and this time he succeeds in sinking his teeth in the bear's neck. The bear howls in pain, trying to throw Richie off in an uncoordinated attack.
Richie growls, but he can only hold on for so long before he’s thrown onto the ground. Richie scrambles up, backing up with his teeth bared. The bear stalks forwards, but Richie snarls, almost as if he is daring the bear to come forwards. He snarls again, taking two steps back until he is next to Eddie.
Richie glances at Eddie, just a second, motioning for him to get on and immediately dragging his gaze towards the bear again. The bear was waiting, baiting his time. And Eddie is frozen for a moment, that thing… that beast was… Richie?
Until Richie whirls his head around to him, letting out a strange mixture between a growl and a bark, motioning for him to get on again. This time Eddie doesn’t wait, scrambling to the wolf. Richie lowers himself as much as he can without appearing submissive, but it is enough for Eddie to get on.
“Shit-” Eddie curses as he touches something wet, looking at his hand to see it sticky with blood. Richie growls, taking a step back and Eddie immediately reaches around Richie’s neck. Eddie can barely glance at the bear before Richie turns around and starts running, fast.
Eddie squeezes his eyes shut as Richie continues running, feeling the wind whip around him. He can feel blood coating his hand, and he reluctantly opens his eyes.
“Richie-” He tries, squeezing his arms around Richie’s neck when he doesn’t seem to be hearing him. “Richie stop!” Eddie yells, and this time Richie listens, slowly coming to a stop. Eddie jumps off immediately, walking towards Richie’s right side and frowning. It is hard to see with the thick fur in the way.
Eddie reaches out, and Richie glances at him warily. Eddie pushes down the fact that Richie was standing here, almost as tall as he is, as a freaking werewolf.
“Oh Rich-” Eddie murmurs as Richie yelps in pain, Eddie’s hands brushing over four gashes on his right ‘shoulder’. “We have to treat it Richie, you’re bleeding badly.” Eddie says, glancing behind him to see a trail of blood following them.
Richie huffs, turning until he was facing Eddie. The shorter boy swallows thickly, unconsciously taking a step back and Richie looks visibly hurt. He whines, eyes widening slightly. There is a tense silence, before Richie slowly drops to the ground, making himself smaller.
Eddie doesn’t miss the wince of pain, but he can only scowl as Richie lets his tongue flop out of his mouth, tail wagging softly.
“It’s just… a lot to take in-” Eddie stammers, and Richie huffs out a sound that sounds like a laugh, or even a chuckle. Eddie glares. “No. You do not get to make ‘that’s what she said’ jokes when you’re a fucking… werewolf!” Eddie says, tension bleeding away.
Eddie sighs, staring at his bloody hands and biting his lip. “Can you like change back? I should look at your wounds first…” Eddie starts hesitantly, and Richie nods. Eddie frowns slightly, it is weird to see a wolf act so human-like, even if his brain knows that this is Richie, his best friend, his boyfriend.
But Richie motions towards the left, letting out a low ruff and standing up. Again, he can’t conceal the wince of pain, but he walks over to Eddie carefully. Eddie tenses again, but doesn’t move away this time as Richie nudges him.
“What is it? What do you want?” Eddie asks, frowning as Richie motions for him to get on his back again. But why would he? He had to look at his wounds. Unless… “You’re taking us back to the tent?” Eddie asks, and Richie nods.
“Are you okay with me riding on you?” Eddie asks, and Richie lets out another chuckle. Eddie scowls. “Nevermind I don’t care if you are-” Eddie hisses, unzipping his hoodie, or actually, Richie’s hoodie. He climbs on Richie’s back again, pressing the fabric against the cuts to try and slow down the bleeding.
Though if Richie has enough energy to make a dirty joke, again, then he can take Eddie home as well. Eddie grumbles as he holds onto Richie, who slowly starts to run again, at a much slower pace this time. Eddie is silent as they walk through the forest, until eventually, they reach their tent again.
Eddie jumps off instantly, walking over to the tent and grabbing a medkit, which he has luckily taken with him when they left.
“Can you change back or something? I need to look at your wounds.” Eddie asks a little hurriedly, feeling anxiety rush through him. Richie huffs slightly, laying down on his belly and closing his eyes. There is a moment of silence, until slowly Richie shifts, until all that was left was a naked boy in the grass.
“Jesus fuck-” Richie hisses, grimacing at he reaches for his bloody shoulder. Eddie moves silently, grabbing a blanket and throwing it at Richie. “It’s not like you haven’t seen it before-” Richie snorts, but still gratefully wraps it around himself, leaving his shoulder bare.
“What the fuck just happened?” Eddie hisses, walking around Richie and sitting down the medkit behind him, and kneeling next to the wound.
“I saved your sorry ass from a fucking bear,” Richie laughs, hissing as Eddie touches the gashes. Eddie glares at him, and Richie chuckles. “Yeah yeah, I know what you meant…” Richie says, trailing off. Eddie sighs, clicking open the medkit and taking out the supplies.
“Should we call your parents?” Eddie asks when he notices Richie’s reluctance to talk. “Or do they….not know?” Eddie adds, but Richie shakes his head, huffing out a laugh.
“Of course they do, I wasn’t like fucking bitten,” Richie says, and Eddie frowns slightly in confusion. “I was born like this, Twilight style-” Richie supplies and Eddie groans, rolling his eyes.
“So what, your dad is a ..werewolf too?” Eddie asks, and Richie shakes his head.
“Mom actually, it’s from her side-” Richie says, hissing slightly as Eddie starts cleaning the wound. “So how bad is it?” Richie asks, and Eddie sighs.
“It could’ve been a lot worse, what the fuck were you even thinking?” Eddie shoots back, frowning.
“Excuse me? You were about to be fucking eaten after stumbling across her cubs-” Richie retorts, and Eddie glares at the wound on Richie’s shoulder instead. It doesn’t even need stitches, so that was good, but Eddie still can’t shake the feeling, the fear he felt.
“So what are you exactly?” Eddie eventually asks as he starts applying the butterfly stitches instead, focused on the task at hand.
“Werewolf, I thought that was obvious by now-” Richie laughs, shaking his head. “Though that turning on the full moon part is total bullshit, as you’ve seen.” Richie points out.
“So you don’t lose control during a full moon?”
Richie shrugs slightly, earning him a scowl from Eddie. “I guess not. The urge to shift does get stronger but I don’t lose control or something. It was harder when I was younger, but not anymore, and I had my mom to teach me everything she knew.”
“And your grandparents?” Eddie asks, and Richie shakes his head.
“My grandpa died when my mom was like 2, so he couldn’t teach her. My grandma knows though, and she knew a lot from grandpa.” Richie explains, and Eddie frowns.
“That must’ve been hard for your mom-” He mutters, and Richie shrugs again.
“She doesn’t really talk about it much, my two uncles have the genes as well, but she was the oldest,” Richie continues softly. “It was easier for me, whenever something happened she would be there to help or explain, she had to figure it out herself with her siblings.”
“So you turning into a giant fucking werewolf is normal in your family?” Eddie asks as he finishes treating Richie’s wounds, instead sitting down next to him.
“Yeah I guess, pretty cool huh?” Richie says, but there is an insecurity lingering in his voice. “Are you scared of me?” Richie adds softly, and for a moment, Eddie is silent.
“No,” He says firmly. “No I’m not, I know you won’t hurt me.” Eddie says, reaching out to touch Richie’s cheek and leaning in, kissing his lips. Richie closes his eyes, smiling into the kiss. Eddie moves, positioning his knees on either side of Richie’s body, kissing his boyfriend again.
Richie hisses as his shoulder pulls, eyes opening again. “I uhm-” Richie chuckles, licking his now swollen lips. “I might need some time to heal.” He laughs it off, and Eddie nods, getting off Richie with a worried look.
“Are you sure we don’t need to go home or something?” Eddie asks, and Richie shakes his head.
“I heal fast, perks of being a werewolf,” He says, reaching out for Eddie’s hand. “Besides, I want to show you more tomorrow, when you’re not being a damsel of course. And technically I didn’t tell you, so I didn’t break the rules, but I also don’t want to find out what my mom thinks about that.” Richie laughs, and Eddie rolls his eyes.
“Is she going to be mad?”
“Oh y’know, the usual, keep your identity a secret, tell no one bla bla bla.” Richie teases.
“I won’t tell.” Eddie affirms, and Riche chuckles at that.
“I mean you better not tell, I’m sure some people would love to get their hands on me when they know, and not in a good way.” Eddie groans at that, before going still.
“So I’m the first to know, the rest of the Losers don’t know at all?” Eddie asks, and Richie shakes his head. “Not even Stan?”
“Nope, my mouth is shut-” Richie says, pretending to lock his mouth and throwing away the key.
“So it’s our little secret?” Eddie whispers in Richie’s ear, and Richie goes very still for a moment, a blush appearing on his face. Richie groans.
“I regret saving you, I should’ve just let that bear maul you.” He groans, trying to keep a serious face but he soon bursts into laughter. “I’m kidding you’re too precious to not save. Now pip-pip and tally-hood, I need some food.” Richie laughs, and Eddie scowls, pushing Richie away.
“Get your own, you mutt.” And Richie gasps at the insult, grinning from ear to ear as he chases Eddie around the tent.