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“Well what if we-” Richie’s idea for the group project was interrupted by Greta, who decided her’s was more important.
“no, no, no. I think we should just stick to the basic map layout. Otherwise it’s just gonna get messy.”
“Ok but.. Everyone else is sticking with that. If we change it up, we might get a better grade.” Stan was never one to be bold, unless it meant impressing his parents by getting the top grade on the biggest group project of the class.
Richie was in awe of Stan wanting to do something outside the box (risking getting an even worse grade), that is until he saw Eddie come into class.
Richie didn’t want to say this to himself, but Eddie looked amazing. What the fuck? Was Richie wrong all along? Was all Eddie needed to do to “figure things out” just to leave Richie?
Richie’s stomach took a trip to his feet, and his feet took a trip to the washroom without permission from the teacher... Or Richie.
Richie burst into a stall and did the last thing he thought he’d be doing on a monday morning during last period. He started bawling. Now, usually crying for hours when someone breaks up with you doesn’t really make you look like you’re doing too great, but dammit, Richie wasn’t doing great. He cried when Eddie left the night they broke up, he cried when he was falling asleep last night, and now he was crying again.
And he wasn’t even just crying because the love of his life broke up with him. He was crying because he felt useless. Eddie had a fucking glow up and the one ingredient to “the recipe for fixing yourself” was to break up with Richie. And Richie didn’t even get the chance to tell Eddie he was the love of his life. It was like everything he believed was just plummeting down the drain all in one week.
He stopped sniffling (and making weird squeaky noises) when he heard someone walk into the bathroom. He stayed dead silent.
He thought he was fine until he heard a knock on the door. “Richie?”
Shit. it was Eddie. Why the fuck was he here? The last thing Richie wanted to do right now was say something to Eddie and have a sob take over before he could finish the sentence.
“Rich..” Eddie flattened his hand on the stall door. (which he soon realized was probably gross, but at this point he hardly cared.) “Can you open the door? ...please?”
Richie swallowed, looking up in hopes that his tears would just go back into his face. He swallowed hard and unlocked the door, allowing it to slowly swing open from the light force of Eddie’s hand.
As the door opened, Eddie noticed Richies tear-stained face. His eyes went wide.
Richie realized this was a very dumb thing to do, and without even looking at Eddie, he ran out of the bathroom.
“Richie-” Eddie stared at the door where Richie had left, and then looked at the sink. “Fuck.” He washed his hands and left the bathroom.
Eddie walked back into class. Richie wasn’t there. His bag was still sitting under his chair but he was nowhere to be seen.
The teacher looked at Eddie. “Neither of you had permission to leave. Where is mr. Tozier?”
Eddie looked around. “I um… he felt really sick.”
“His bag is still here. Did he go home?”
“No he uh… just went for some fresh air.”
“Well next time you see him, tell him he did not get permission to leave. You’ll both be staying back to help me tidy up the back room.”
“For going to the washroom without asking?” Eddie should have shut up.
The teacher just looked at him and then back down at his work.
“Okay…”
- - -
When class ended, Eddie ran around the school looking for Richie, who was hiding in the boy’s room of the top floor. Eddie saw Stan. “hey!”
Stan turned around. “Oh hey Eddie. Where did Richie go? Have you found him yet?”
“No I was hoping you might have.”
“Sorry. I talked to Bev and Ben, they haven’t seen him either.”
“Hm…” Eddie looked around and saw Mike going up the stairs to the top floor. “One sec-” He started speed walking to the stairs.
Eddie ran up the stairs after Mike. “Mike!”
“Huh?” he turned around, startled by a panting Eddie standing behind him. “Oh hey Eddie!”
“Have you seen Richie?” Eddie sounded a bit frantic.
“Oh- yeah I saw him come up here a bit ago. I dunno where he went though.”
“K thanks bye.” Eddie yeeted past Mike and checked every single room. Why he needed to see Richie so desperately, he didn’t know… or didn’t want to admit. But he also had to tell him about what the teacher had said, which was his excuse for searching all over the school for him.
He made it to the end of the hall. the washrooms. He walked into the Mens room, almost leaving before seeing Richie’s shoes under the last stall. He stopped dead in his tracks.
Richie froze too. “Go away” well dammit his brain and lips weren’t really communicating as well as he would have liked.
“Richie…”
“Eddie I don’t want to talk to you.” again, didn’t want to say that but he did.
“We have to stay after school and help sort out the backroom in the class.”
“Why?”
“Neither of us asked before running out of class while he was talking.”
“Oh.” He paused. “Can we go on different days?” ok that was rude.
“Best get it done sooner than later…”
There was an awkward silence. Then Eddie heard Richie unlocking the door. He walked out, his face still red from crying. they stared at each other.
“Hey…” Eddie didn’t lose eye contact for a second. It was like he hadn’t seen Richie in years.
Richie looked a bit angry. “Hey Eds.”
“Wanna go get started with the teacher-” Eddie was cut off by Richie.
“Eddie.”
“Yeah?”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Uhm… yeah sure..” Eddie wiped his hands on his pants.
Richie didn’t break eye contact either. “Was I wrong?”
“What?”
“Was I wrong? Were you right? Are you better now? Without me?”
“I-” Eddie almost looked like he was being interrogated.
“Are you?” Richie held back more tears.
“I- I don’t know I…”
Richie looked away for a second, shaking his head, and then looked back at Eddie. “Come on. You’re glowing. You don’t seem depressed. You don’t look like anything is wrong. You don’t look like you just broke up with someone and crushed their heart. Actually… you look amazing. You look like you spent extra time on looking amazing.”
“Richie..”
Richie stared at Eddie, almost glaring like he was furious. “How are you so ok?”
Eddie was speechless. “Richie-”
“HOW are you so ok?” Richie’s expression made a quick switch from angry to almost crying.
“I’m NOT.” they went silent. Eddie almost whispered. “I’m not. I’m not ok.”
Richie’s voice cracked. “What?”
Eddie’s eyes seemed to want to join in the fun with Richie’s eyes. Meaning they were both tearing up. “Richie I did. I did spend extra time on looking amazing. Because I feel like shit.”
Richie didn’t say anything. He just stared at Eddie. Obviously Eddie feels like shit so he shouldn’t be proud of himself for being right but damn he felt good.
“Richie I was wrong. I thought… maybe if I…”
“Go on.”
“I thought if I ran I wouldn’t have to face it.”
“Face what?” Richie was a bit confused.
“You.”
“So… you thought by running from me you wouldn’t have to face me? Yeah that’s how it works.”
“That’s not. That’s not what I meant.”
“What did you mean?” Richie was sounding angry again.
“I mean…”
Richie raised his eyebrows like: go on.
“I mean I thought if I left I wouldn’t have to tell you how I felt.”
“How you felt?” Richie stared at Eddie, he felt bad for feeling so proud of himself but he was right. Eddie did miss him. He’s not better. He’s not better without Richie.
Eddie, kind of out of nowhere, began to cry. This puzzled Richie, causing his sarcastic, prideful, asshole tone to make yet another switch to “oh shit I made him cry”.
“Hey- why are you crying.” he stepped a bit closer to close the awkward distance between them. He was about a metre away.
Eddie wiped his face with his sleeves, staring at Richie. He then blurted the few words he’d been avoiding since he broke up with Richie in the first place. “Because I love you.”
Richie really wanted to have a moment here but this came across as: Eddie is crying because he loves Richie. “Wait what?”
“Richie I broke up with you because I… I didn’t want to fall in love with you and have my heart crushed.”
“So you crushed mine?”
“It was wrong. I know. I just….” he sniffed. “Can you forgive me?”
This was all Richie had wanted to hear since the breakup. The three words that would be the soul reason to put them back together. “Of course.”
Damn the mood in this bathroom changed drastically multiple times. Richie stepped even closer. “And… I get it.”
“What?”
“I spent the last few weeks crying myself to sleep because I thought you didn’t love me. so... it’s not fair for me to be mad that you were scared of the same thing.”
Eddie smiled. “Fuck I really messed this up.”
Richie shook his head. “Nah we’re both just really bad at love.”
“Gee thanks.”
“Don’t worry I was bad first when I spent a week procrastinating telling you I loved you.”
“So you do love me?”
“Of course I do.”
“Damn I guess the past few weeks of shit were really for nothing.”
“It gave me time to write you multiple love letters to try and get you back… they all ended up in the garbage.”
“You’re joking.”
“What?”
Eddie pulled a small paper from his pocket. “Wrote a few myself.” he gave it to Richie.
Richie unfolded it and read it. “This just says ‘sorry’ four billion times.”
“I was hoping to get a point across.”
Richie smiled and put his arms around Eddie’s waist. “It got across. And I feel like I should apologize too.”
“Why?”
“For waiting too long to say I love you.”
“It’s ok. We’re both saying it now aren’t we?”
“Yeah I guess so.”
Eddie smiled.
Richie smiled back. “Ok I’ve been waiting like a month and a half to kiss you again…” Eddie cut Richie off by kissing him, his arms going around his neck.
Richie pulled away slowly. “Hey d’ya think we can leave this bathroom now?”
“Yeah that’s a good idea.”
“My house?”
Eddie almost said yes but remembered something. “Oh shit we still have to help the teacher.”