Chapter Text
“I can’t believe I let you convince me to do this…” Eddie grumbles, staring apprehensively at the sand. Out in the distance, just over the horizon, dark clouds hover menacingly at the point where the ocean meets the sky. “It’s going to pour any minute.”
“Eds, those clouds are miles off!” Richie scoffs, playfully pushing past Eddie towards the beach. “This is basically kismet.”
“How?” Eddie groans, following reluctantly. He eyes the ground carefully, cringing at the way his feet sink deep and grains of sand catch at the edges of his shoes. Definitely not a fan.
“First off, most people are at work or school.”
“As we should be,” Eddie points out.
“Second, the few people that aren’t being productive members of society aren’t going to dare come to the beach with clouds like that around.”
“But you just said–!”
“I’m saying other people wouldn’t dare. That doesn’t mean they’re correct, my love.”
Eddie’s face burns, and he’s sure it has nothing to do with the heat wave. He hates when Richie does that. My love. Like they’re some sort of couple. It’s not fair that Richie gets his kicks teasing Eddie like that. He hasn’t the slightest idea what goes on in Eddie’s head late at night with those nicknames ruminating in his head.
It surely isn’t going to make those fantasies more tame, having this fresh new image of Richie pulling his shirt off under the hot summer sun. An involuntary groan escapes Eddie’s throat, but he thinks the nearby crash of an ocean wave saves him from Richie hearing it. He’d think seeing Richie looking pale and ridiculous, giant glasses askew on his face and hair a tousled mess, would rip desire away from him.
All it does is make it worse.
As Richie would say, cute, cute, cute.
“I hate you for doing this to me.”
“Aw, Eds, you’ll love it. It’s not my fault you wore sneakers and socks.”
“Why would I wear those dirty fucking foot thongs you have on your feet?”
“What was that now?” Richie guffaws, his face wrinkling up delightfully. It makes his eyes twinkle as bright as the blue sky.
When Eddie’s the one making him laugh… now that’s a high that even a beach day can’t match.
“Let’s get in this dirty sperm water before I change my mind.”
“Good god, Eds, what is wrong with you?” Richie wheezes, waiting for Eddie to struggle out of his shirt and shoes. “I’m supposed to be the Trashmouth.”
“I’m just saying!” Eddie throws his hands up defensively. “Whales and shit are constantly splooging in the ocean, and we’re about to swim in it. This is what you consider a vacation.”
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I love it.”
Eddie’s used to swimming from all their days in the quarry. This is much different, and it’s made apparent immediately. The taste of salt is sharp on his tongue as a wave crashes against his chest, splashing his face. It’s warmer than he expected, though, making it easy to plunge in after Richie once it gets about waist deep. He swims out and immediately gets a face full of water as he approaches Richie.
From that point on, all the way until they get in the car, Eddie doesn’t think about home.
They hover back and forth between sand and sea. Playing childish games like Marco Polo and digging trails on the shore to gently place a couple of crabs in an imaginary race. Eventually, the water rushes up and washes them away, taking the crabs with it.
“Aw man, Henrietta was totally winning,” Richie groans, snapping his fingers.
“Bullshit! Lola was ahead by a claw!” He shoves Richie playfully, not realizing his mistake until after. Richie stumbles back, quickly catching himself before he grins over at Eddie mischievously, fixing the glasses on his face.
“Oh, you wanna go?”
“No, no, no,” Eddie giggles, barely backing up before Richie tackles into his side.
He expects Richie to throw him into the ocean, maybe pull him in by the arms. He’s caught by surprise when Richie hurls Eddie over his shoulder, his arm wrapped around the back of Eddie’s thighs. He squeals in Richie’s grasp, gasping for air as his laughter turns to breathy huffs. When Richie finally tosses Eddie into the water, he doesn’t let go.
“What are you doing, feeding me to the sharks?” Eddie chuckles breathlessly, squirming in Richie’s arms. They’re still tight around his waist, holding Eddie just inches from him. “Rich?”
Something is off about Richie’s face. It’s a subtle sort of sadness peeking out from his thick lenses. Eddie’s seen it there before, often in flickers and brief moments between them in the clubhouse or Richie’s room. Part of Eddie always wondered if it was a sense of pity towards him, like all of Eddie’s misfortune contaminated Richie’s mood.
Except now, being so close and catching Richie off guard, he’s finally able to see it for more than half a second. Richie looks pained, but there’s something more. Something that Eddie feels resonating inside of him, as if his own longing is reverberating back at him through Richie’s eyes.
That longing seems to overcome Eddie, shooting through his body like lightning. So suddenly that Eddie doesn’t realize he’s pushing himself up in Richie’s arms, crashing their faces together.
Every muscle in his body tenses up, barely able to register how Richie feels against him. That electricity is gone and his instinct is to panic. He pushes off just as soon as the kiss lands. Desperate to swim away and untangle himself from Richie’s limbs, Eddie starts thrashing to get as far from Richie as he can before the humiliation swallows him deeper than the ocean.
“Eds, Eds, stop.”
“I’m sorry!” Eddie cries, still struggling weakly in Richie’s arms. Why isn’t Richie throwing Eddie off of him in disgust. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Just relax for a minute, please.”
The calmness in Richie’s voice is sincere enough to make Eddie listen. It calms Eddie as well, doing as Richie says and letting his body relax just enough to bob in the water. That look is still on Richie’s face, only now it’s accompanied by a soft smile that Eddie doesn’t think he’s ever seen before.
“I don’t know why I did that,” Eddie says defensively, his throat burning with a need to sob.
“It’s okay, Eddie. I don’t know why you did either, but I’m not complaining.”
Eddie blinks, not even registering the low rumble of thunder from somewhere above them. “Wuh-what?”
“Did you want to do that?” Richie whispers, a seriousness in his voice that Eddie’s not quite used to. “Kiss me?”
Without breaking eye contact, Eddie simply nods. He feels like he must be in shock, because why would he admit to something so… so…
“Was it gross?”
“No,” Eddie admits quietly. He’s suddenly hyper aware of how their legs graze each other gently in the water as they tread closely to stay afloat. “I thought it would be.”
Rain drops start to join the water droplets still clinging to Richie’s glasses. They start falling on Eddie’s exposed shoulders softly, making little ripples in the water around them.
“I always thought you’d think so,” Richie murmurs. “But you just… did it. You kissed me.”
“Please don’t be mad…” Eddie couldn’t be more grateful for the rain, knowing the tears will be spilling any second now. He feels it in the sting behind his eyes. Still bracing himself for Richie to start making dirty jokes or tell Eddie how disgusting he is.
Richie lifts one of his arms away from where he’s still holding Eddie, and Eddie thinks this is the moment he’ll start yelling or laughing at him. Except, all he does is cup Eddie cheek, thumbing it softly. “I’m not mad.”
“You’re not?”
Richie shakes his head. “Would you be mad if I wanted you to do that?”
“Why would you want to kiss me?”
That’s the thing that makes Richie laugh again, but it’s not cruel or teasing. It’s gentle and it makes Eddie smile back.
“Eds, I think we’re both kind of stupid.”
“I can’t argue that you are.”
Richie’s face wrinkles again with that grin that makes Eddie feel high again, positively giddy. They’re both practically vibrating in the water with quiet laughter as Richie gently tugs Eddie closer. He hovers over him ever so slightly, as if trying to shield Eddie from the descending rain. But Eddie doesn’t worry about it one bit.
“I wouldn’t mind if you did it again.”
Much more mindful than before, Eddie makes his movements much more deliberately. He feels Richie react this time, his hand cupping the back of Eddie’s head as he tilts his own to fit them together. This time, it’s soft and sweet, their bodies flush together in embrace. Eddie lets his mouth open to Richie’s, his lips tasting of salt, sand, and sunshine. He feels Richie lick at his bottom lip, wetting them inside and out as the rain begins to pour.
“We’re gonna get your car soaked,” Eddie whispers through a giggle against Richie’s mouth.
“I’m just glad that’s the most of our worries right now,” Richie chuckles, resting his forehead against Eddie’s. “You want to head back?”
“Not just yet…” Eddie says softly, pushing away thoughts threatening to bring him down. “Can we pretend we don’t have to go back? Just for a minute?”
“Anything for you, my love,” Richie assures him, squeezing Eddie tight as he rests his head on Richie’s shoulder. Just for now, letting the rain wash away the worries of what’s waiting for him at home.