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Richie was desperately trying to sort his thoughts again after the surprising attack of the statue, or Pennywise. He really thought he shit his pants again.
Breathing heavily in fear, he layed down in the grass and closed his eyes, trying to think of something different. The first thing that came to his mind was Eddie. Of course it was Eddie. It has always been him.
"Richie?" A voice called his name. A very familiar voice. Was it Eddie?
Richie opened his eyes to prove that his theory was correct and it was indeed Eddie. What was he doing here? Richie sighed quietly, embarrassed that he was found by Eddie right at this moment. He had to play tough. Of course he didn't want to look like a loser in front of his crush, even though the said crush was a loser as well. And wasn't there that one saying? "If you're a loser, then you have nothing to lose." Wasn't it like that..? Richie couldn't quite remember but it sounded logical. Though not logical enough for him at the moment.
"Oh, hey Eds. What are you doing here?"
"My mom sent me to pick up an order from the pharmacy again."
Richie laughed at that. That was so Eddie. He didn't expect anything else.
"You can stop laughing now and tell me why you're randomly laying in the grass."
Richie quickly tried to make anything up in his mind. What should he say? He didn't have any ideas. Maybe just the truth? Not the whole truth though.
"I was at the Arcade first and then came here to witness another It attack."
"Are you okay? What exactly happened?" Eddie was clearly worried and sat down next to Richie. "Yeah, I'm fine. That statue was attacking me with its stick."
"I attacked your mom with my stick last night too." Eddie was pretty proud of this joke that randomly came up in his mind. That's totally something that Richie would've said. "You're not funny, Eds."
"And you think you are?" Now he looked like an angry gremlin. Kinda cute.
"Anyways the clouds look so pretty today that's why I decided to lay around for a little longer." Richie stared at the sky.
"That doesn't sound like you at all but okay, fine." Eddie decided to try that out as well and layed down next to his friend.
The two of them were talking about some random stuff until Eddie suddenly started panicking.
"Oh shit shit shit shit shit..."
"What's wrong now? Did you suddenly remember that I'll be your new stepdad?"
"No! What if there are lawn mites here? My mom will kill me if I get lawn mites!"
"Your mom will also kill you because you've been away for too long now. Relax. But if it would make you feel better we can go somewhere else."
Eddie nodded and it looked almost aggressively how he shook his head up and down.
Richie got up and held his hand out for Eddie to take but just as Eddie was about to grab Richie's hand, Richie pulled it away, laughing at Eddie's perplexed face. "Wow, you're so funny." He rolled his eyes.
Richie held out his hand for Eddie a second time who decided to trust the other again and took it. This time Richie didn't prank him but actually helped him up. Neither Richie nor Eddie let go of the other's hand. That was strange. They had a way too long lasting eye contact with each other until Richie broke it because it got too awkward for him. He cleared his throat and took his hand away from Eddie's.
"Let's go to my place." Richie said. "What? Why not to mine?"
"Two words."
Eddie nodded, quickly understanding what Richie was indicating. Your mom.
While they were walking and talking, Richie suddenly had an idea. "Fuck, marry, kill. Me, Bill and Beverly."
"Uhm, what?"
"You heard me." Richie laughed.
"Hmmm... I guess fuck Beverly because how should I fuck a boy? Marry you and kill Bill."
"Why are you killing Bill? Was Georgie not enough?"
"Beep beep Richie."
"Sorry, I shut up. Why marry me though?" Richie grinned proudly. Behind the proud grin was a rapidly beating heart in excitement though.
"I guess marrying you wouldn't be boring at all. But that will never happen anyway because we're both guys."
Ouchie. Why did Eddie have to ruin it like that?
"Okay, your turn. Fuck, marry, kill with Beverly, me aaaaaand... Stan."
"Fuck Stan, marry Bev and kill you."
"Are you serious now?" Eddie angrily crossed his arms infront of his chest. Angry Eddie was really one of Richie's favorite Eddie's.
"Okay fine. Fuck Stan, marry you and kill Bev. Are you satisfied now?"
"What did Bev even do to you?" And again Eddie found a reason to complain.
"It's just a game, Eddie!"
"And why would you marry me?!"
"Because you complained when I didn't!"
"Yeah, because you said you would want to kill me?!"
"Because there wasn't any other choice left!"
"Well, you could've killed Stan and fucked me!"
"So you wanna get fucked by me?" Richie laughed at Eddie who just sighed.
"That doesn't even work! How would you fuck me, huh?"
The way Eddie was so innocent was just cute. But it showed that he had never really given that much thought about sexual intercourse.
"In your ass, of course."
"In my... WHAT? Why would you do that?!"
"I don't know, I didn't invent that shit. Haha, get it? Shit!"
"You're so mature, it's crazy. So... Guys can actually fuck with each other?"
"Uhm, yeah? I just told you. Did you never think about that?"
"I didn't. But that's... interesting, I guess. That makes the game a lot easier."
"Fuck, marry, kill with Henry, Patrick and my dad then." Richie said.
"Oh my god, what's wrong with you?"
A few minutes later they arrived at Richie's house which they entered. Eddie still felt weird about the information he learned. Sex in the ... ass? Was that really possible? Would it feel good? He actually felt so stupid for thinking guys couldn't do it with each other. Sex takes an important part in a relationship, Eddie knew that. And if two people of the same gender could be in a relationship and love each other, then there had to be a way for them to have sex, right? How did he never think about that? Richie would probably make fun of him in front of the other losers for not knowing that...
The two went upstairs and into Richie's room which was as messy as usual.
Richie jumped in his bed and Eddie immediately yelled at him for not taking his shoes off first.
"Why should I? I'm always laying in my bed with my shoes on."
"Oh my god. You aren't serious, are you? That's so disgusting! What if you stepped in dog shit today?"
"But I didn't. So what's the deal?"
"I'm just saying..."
"Fine. If it makes you feel better then I'll take my shoes off. Just for you, Eds~" Richie took his shoes off and threw them somewhere in his room which was also a usual thing for him: Throwing his stuff everywhere. That was also the reason his room looked the way it did.
Richie patted the empty spot next to him for Eddie to join him. The small boy layed down next to Richie even though he found the fact that Richie was always in his bed with his shoes on extremely disgusting but what he didn't find disgusting at all was Richie.
"Fuck, marry, kill with Mike, Bill and me." Eddie said to Richie.
"Fuck Mike, marry Ben and kill you."
He received a light punch to his ribs after saying that but of course he did that on purpose to annoy Eddie.
"You know I'm just messing around with you. I would always choose you to marry, Eddiebear." Richie made kissing noises, imitating Eddie's mom when she was asking for a goodbye-kiss.
"You're an asshole."
"I know."
They were quiet for a few seconds.
"You were at the arcade today, weren't you? How was it?"
At the mention of 'Arcade' Richie felt his heart sink. Today was the worst day ever. He thought there was nothing wrong with asking Connor for another game of 'Street Fighter' but instead he got completely humiliated by Henry and his friends. Of course not all of the people that were there knew that he was gay for real and that it wasn't only some bullying stuff but it was still a really heavy moment for him.
"Did something happen?" Eddie asked again.
"U-Uh no. Only that your mom came there to pick me up."
"Leave my mom out of that. You're clearly hiding something. Why can't you just tell me?"
"I can't."
"So you really are hiding something. I knew it."
Richie sighed. He hated showing weakness. The only thing he always did was making bad jokes to distract from the topic that he wanted to avoid. He didn't want to open up to anyone. In the end, he could trust no one. And the information he shared could be used against him. That was actually one of his biggest fears.
"Richie, why do you not want to talk to me?"
Why he doesn't want to talk to you? Because he was scared. Scared that you may find out what he really feels for you.
"Richie." Eddie took Richie's hand, softly squeezing it. Another gesture that hurt Richie's heart.
"I can't tell you."
"Okay, and why not?"
"You wouldn't understand."
Eddie sighed. Why wouldn't he understand? It couldn't be that bad, could it?
"Was Henry there?"
A nod.
"Did he say something to you?"
Another nod.
Eddie tried to think of any other questions but it was useless. He didn't know what could possibly have happened at the arcade.
"Maybe you should go home. Your mom is probably worried." Richie said, quietly.
Whatever happened there must have probably been very hard for Richie or else his mood wouldn't have switched up that fast just at the mention of the arcade which was usually one of Richie's favorite places.
"I should go home? Come on, Richie. You wanted me to come here."
Richie turned his back to Eddie and stared at the wall.
"I want to help you. Please talk to me."
Eddie scooted closer to Richie and snuggled up to him from behind. A simple move that made the butterflies in Richie's stomach go crazy.
"Henry said some shit to me and embarrassed me in front of everyone at the Arcade and made me leave."
"Thanks for telling me but... I already knew. I want to know what exactly he said to you."
Richie sighed. "Promise me that you won't treat me any differently if I tell you what he said. It's really important for me."
"I promise." Eddie said softly.
"I was playing 'Street Fighter' with Henry's cousin Connor and after I defeated him I asked if he wanted to play another round. Then Henry entered the arcade and Connor shouted at me that I was weird and that he wasn't my fucking boyfriend or something. Henry heard that and called me a f-fagott and that I should leave."
Eddie didn't know what to say. That sounded horrible. But one question crossed his mind. Did Richie made him promise to not treat him any differently because he was, in fact, gay?
"Are you gay, Richie?"
"I thought my story already gave that away."
Silence.
"I knew you wouldn't think of me the same anymore. It's fine if you want to leave. That's also why I didn't want to tell you. You're probably my closest friend and I didn't want to lose you but I won't be mad at you if you don't want to see me anymore and think I'm disgusting or some shit."
More silence.
Eddie didn't move away. He was still holding Richie close to himself.
"I won't leave you because of that. You should know that I'm better than that."
Richie felt so relieved. As if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders. Unless Eddie was just joking?
"Do you really think so or are you just making fun of me?"
"Ugh. You're so stupid. Of course I really think so."
Richie turned around to look at Eddie who looked more than just serious.
"Sooo... if you're gay... Does that mean you want to fuck assholes?"
Richie chuckled.
"If you continue being one then I might as well fuck you."
Eddie looked actually scared for a second until he got pulled into a comfortable hug by Richie. "Thank you so much, Eddie."
"For what?"
"For being my friend." Unfortunately only friend, not boyfriend. But whatever, Richie thought.
"And please don't tell anyone. I'm afraid others won't take it the same way you did."
"Our friends would probably react the same way I did but if you don't want anyone else to know then I respect that."
"Thank you, Eds. I love you."
"As a friend, right?"
"You asshole. Just because I'm not into girls doesn't mean I fall for the first guy I see, you know?"
"Yeah, yeah... Sorry." Eddie laughed. Richie wondered if he would ever be able to tell Eddie what he felt for him and how he would react to that.