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A rapid buzzing came from the wall phone next to the door frame leading to the kitchen. Eddie was still in bed, which was unusual for him; he was commonly found cleaning or getting ready for the day at this time, but instead he was still buried under a mound of blankets and pillows.
“EDDIE, BABY, IT’S FOR YOU!” His mom screeched from downstairs. He lifted his head slowly, trying to give his eyes time to adjust. He grumbled and rolled over onto his back, reaching his arm out blindly to the bedside table in an attempt to grab his wrist watch. His hand stumbled around, knocking over an empty cup that once held water. Bringing the watch to his face, his mom screamed again, “EDDIE!”
“MOM!” He hollered back, rubbing his eyes with his free hand before getting a good look at the time. 10:30, that’s a record; the longest he’s over slept in in awhile. No wonder his mom is screaming for him to go down. He’s to old for this shit, about to graduate and his mom is still waking him up in the morning. It’s degrading.
He attempts to toss the watch back onto the table but it slides across the wood with ease, landing on the floor with a loud smack. The Ceiling fan was spinning at a steady pace, it was giving him a headache.
Downstairs, Mrs. Kasbrak was talking ever so cheerfully with someone on the other side of the line when Eddie finally came down.
“Oh, Eddie dear. About time you came down. I’ve been trying to keep conversation with your friend here for so long. I couldn’t just hang up on him!” She muttered, holding a hand over the bottom speaker of the red phone. Eddie couldn’t hold back an eye role as he sighed and took the phone from his mother.
“Who is it”
“Ed’s! About time, Jesus. I don’t think I could keep conversation with Godzilla over here much longer. I was afraid she’d just start eating the phone.” A sarcastic voice came through the other end. Unfortunately, Eddie knew who it was right away.
“Richie, shut up. If she heard you say that stuff she would never let me see you again.” He mumbled, spinning around to see where his mom was before he spoke, afraid of offending her by simply breathing.
“Aw, how would you ever handle that. No Richie Tozier in your life to keep you company. I didn’t know you’d care so much for seeing me.” Eddie could tell that Rich was pulling out the puppy dog eyes even though no one was even there to see them.
“What are you calling for, Richie?”
“Are you coming over or what?”
“What do you mean, ‘coming over’?” He hadn’t made plans today, had he? Hence why he stayed in bed. He had it all planned out. Stay up late, stay in bed all day, fake sick so his mom didn’t know he had stayed up. Eighteen and he’s still faking sick to his mom so he can stay in bed. He couldn’t wait to finally get out of this stupid house, and more importantly, away from his mom.
“Bevs place? Losers party? Man, you’re always planning for stuff. How did you forget something like this?” Shit. Eddie had forgotten plans. That’s a first. Two firsts in one day, something big was gonna happen. He wouldn’t consider himself superstitious, but he had a nagging feeling this wasn’t a coincidence.
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“Eds, you doing all right?” Richie was fidgeting with the phone cord as he paced around in a small circle in his kitchen, at least, as far as the phone cord would let him.
“Yeah i’m fine i just, really dont think i wanna go…” eddie replies with an exhausted tone.
“Maybe we don't have to?”
“Sorry.. What?”
“You know, we can just hang out at yours. Have our own ‘party’.” his eyes wondered across the wallpaper of his kitchen as he listened to the breathing on the other end.
“That’d be nice but… I don't think the other losers would like it if we did something without them.” Eddie's reply sounded sadder than he wanted.
“You could tell them that your mom grounded you for something and I’ll tell them I'm really sick.” Richie had a growing grin on his face as he stared out the window at the gold haze coating the landscape, waiting for what seems like forever for a response.
“I guess we could, but I would rather not lie to them…” Eddie says after a long wait.
“I mean unless you wanna go that bad Ed’s , then we don't have to lie.” richie joked, letting out a soft chuckle as he said it.
“No, no I'd rather die then go tonight.” Eddie whispered.
“Then I guess the plans a go.” Richie said in succession before hanging up, cutting Eddies words of protest off.
Both boys called Beverley in quick happenstance of each other, both trying to sound as sincere as poasbile with out much success. But Bev let them off knowing they'd probably just be hanging together, she knew them too well.
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Eddie sat on his bed, awaiting the moment a small rock would be thrown at his second story window instead of a pebble. Everytime Richie does this, he throws a full sized rock at the window and claims it was a pebble. Eddie wouldn’t be surprised if ‘trashmouth’ Tozier broke his bedroom window anytime soon.
He had been sitting there staring at nothing for what felt like an eternity, (20 minutes), and Rich really only lived a 10 minute bike ride from his small house. Eddie let out a dramaticized sigh and flopped back onto the bed, now staring at the ceiling instead of nothing. “Come on Toizer, any day now…” he muttered to himself.
There was a rustle of bushes outside his window, he shot up from his slumped position almost immediately and jumped off the bed. At his great dismay, he observed nothing but two squirrels chasing each other through the brush. He stood staring out at them, unimpressed and once again sulking, when all of the sudden… Bam! A flying rock around the size of a golf ball hit the window directly in front of Eddies face. His breath hitched and he jumped almost a whole foot in the air. He had almost just witnessed his life flash before his eyes. Never would he thought it would have been at the hands of a flying stone thrown by his best friend.
He threw the window up and leaned out on both arms, “Richie, what the fuck!” He yelled in a whisper. He didn’t want his mom to know he was sneaking this trashmouth in the house.
“Oh Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down thye silver ladder. Fore thows prince has arrived to rescue this fair sir of boredom!” Richie hollered back up, a confident smirk displayed on his face, complimented by the mischievous eyes shielded by comically large classes.
“I don’t think that’s how it goes…” Eddie said in sarcastic disgust, as if offended Richie had changed the words.
He rolled his eyes and walked to his closet. His mom always made him keep a folded up metal ladder in his room in case of an emergency. The only ‘emergencies’ he used it for though was sneaking this feral animal inside.
He dropped the ladder down lightly, letting the end slide down at the perfect length to not let it make a sound when it pushed into the grass. Richie had other plans about the noise. He jumped onto the ladder, making a clank sounds of rubber converse on metal, before climbing up while humming loudly to himself. As he clumsily attempted to dive into the room, Eddie grabbed his hand to yank him in while shushing him. Sure, his mom was napping in the living room, and the TV was blaring, but there was always the possibility of her waking up and walking in on…god knows what!
Eddie finally managed to pull him through, helping him get his balance back after stumbling so much. The last thing Ed’s wanted was Richie to fall and take the floor boards with him. They stood for a second, nothing to say, nothing to do. They simply looked at each other in a comfortable silence. Eddie caught Richie’s eyes dart down to their hands and back up to his face with slightly wider eyes. Eddie looked down to see that he was still holding Toizers hand. He dropped it quickly and looked away. Anywhere but Richie’s face. The tips of his ears burned and he cleared his throat, ‘what is wrong with you!’ He thought to himself.
Richie also cleared his throat and averted his eyes, “wow Ed’s, I love the decorating you’ve done around here.” Richie said as he quickly turned away to walk around the room. Eddies room hadn’t changed sense the last time he had been there, but he had to change the tension in the room. Eddie watched him pace around, “Nothings changed…?” He mumbled, taking note of how awkward Richie had become.. Trying to compose himself
‘Jesus, look what you did Eddie, you fucked this up. That’s so weird? Why would you do that? Did letting go make it worse or would keeping my hand there been the better option? Uggghhh.’ His mind raced with wild thoughts, Richie’s pacing made it no better. He wished he could see what he was thinking….
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‘HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT’ Richie thinks to himself over and over as he looks anywhere but at Eddie. Trying to compose himself and change the topic once again he says “so… what should we do.” in a shrill voice
“I-i dont know uh.”
“We could fuck?” richie says jokingly
“What…” Eddie laughing nervously
“I'm just joking, eds..”
“Right..”
Richie now looking at eddies very large array of colorful rocks that fills one of the few shelves “kinda gay” he says under hes breath
“Whatd you say?”
“Nothing” he says in a breathy laugh “we should drink or something” launching himself into eddies bed, the wooden panels underneath making a horrible squeak
“Stop being so loud my mom will hear and actually ground me forever”
“Whatever lets do something”
“We could play truth or dare?”
“Damn eds didn't know you were up for such frivolous things.” Richie jokes once again “so truth or dare eddie spaghetti”
“I told you to stop calling me that richie” he says in an annoyed tone “i pick… truth”
“Hmm… do you like anyone right now?”
“Thats like the most basic question ever," eddie says in an annoyed but equally embarrassed tone
“Well i wanna know the answer eds” Richie says thinking ‘god please say no’
“I mean i guess i do”
“Really…who?”
“None of your business… why do you care anyway?”
“I was just… curious” richie now feeling the bed sink in bedside him, his eyes staying up locked on the old wood grain of the ceiling “i pick… truth too”
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The wooden frame of bed creaked lightly under the weight of both the boys shifting. Richie layed back, staring up into the nothingness of the ceiling. Eddie sat next to him, looking around. The tension in the room was still present. Maybe they should have just gone to Bev’s. “Uhm..” Eddie mumbled, looking down at the floor, picking the skin around his nails. “What…about you? Like anyone?” He said, still refusing to look at the boy next to him. He heard Richie shift a little, the blanket he was laying on rustled. Just from the sound alone, he could tell Richie was moving to sit up next to him.
“Yeah…I mean, yeah, I do.” Eddie looked at him then, just a side glance. But Richie was doing the same. They made eye contact for a moment, the buzz of the ceiling fan was starting to get on Eddies nerves.
He looked back down at the floor quickly, “I won’t, nag you about it, but…who? If you don’t wanna tell me that’s fine, I was just wondering!” He said, throwing his hands up in defense from his own words. He should have just kept his mouth shut. “Why do you wanna know?” Richie said, a small smirk starting to pull at the corner of his mouth. Eddie could feel his face getting warmer, he threw his hands back up and around in protest.
“I was just asking! How come when you ask it’s fine but the second I have a question it’s a thing!” He raised his voice slightly, before shrinking back down to a whisper; suddenly aware of his volume. “Don’t test me Tozier, I’m not in the mood for this. It was just a question. Besides, you havnt had a crush on anyone sense we where way younger. What kind of girl can just show up out of no where and grab your attention?” He said through gritted teeth. His voice was quite, but his tone was heavy and laced with frustration.
“Jesus, Ed’s. Didn’t know that would be so triggering for you.” Richie brought a hand to his chest, replicating a hurt or maybe or a touched, reaction. Eddie couldn’t tell and nor could he care. Richie was being a dick, like usual, and Eddie was too tired to deal with this. He couldn’t tell if staying up late doing work was the bad idea, or if having Trashmouth over was. Which ever it was, it had been a bad idea.
“Whatever.” Eddie rolled his eyes, crossing his arms across his chest in a pout. He couldn’t fatham the idea of some girl on top of Richie, let alone Richie actually enjoying it! He had always talked shit about girls at school, and would always tease and mess with them. He never cared for ‘romance’, ever sense they where young. ‘What am I even saying! Stop it, what the hell? I need to stop, this is so wrong…’ he thought to himself.
Richie had picked up a comic from the bedside table and was thumbing through it. Eddie couldn’t drag himself out of the internal pit he had created. All he could think about was Richie with another girl. It seemed so wrong, but maybe it was right? Of course it was right! A girl and a boy, how it should be…right? Than why did it seem so wrong?
He thought about Richie touching another girl, holding her hand, grabbing her waist, kissing her…Eddie brought his hand to his lips, brushing his fingers over them. His thoughts changed from a girl…to him. He dropped his hand immediately and bit his lip. ‘No no no no no no…’ he thought to himself. He squeezed his eyes shut, his breathing grew heavier.
Richie looked up from the comic and at Eddie, he noticed the change in Eddies breathing pattern and his face dropped. “Ed’s? You okay?” He dropped the comic on the bed next to him and brought his hand to Eddies back. Eddie jumped from his spot on the bed and spun around, staring in front of Richie who was still stuck in his spot.
“I think you need to leave.” He said through a gasp for air. Richie’s face had twisted into a mix of confusion and concern.
“What do you mean? I…just got here? Ed’s are you feeling alright?” Richie started to stand up, slowly, but it was enough to make Eddie panic even more. He tried to take deep breaths, trying to calm himself so maybe Rich could stay and forget this ever happened.
Richie was standing in front of him now, he had to look up a bit to keep eye contact. He had always been taller than Eddie, but a couple years ago he really shot up.
“Eddie, take a deep breath. What’s going on? Did I say something?”
“No, I just-“ he stuttered through shaky breaths, his mind was still racing and his thoughts where overwhelming him. The air grew thick around him and the walls felt like they where closing. He was frustrated and confused, he needed to get these thoughts out. Of course he wanted to be alone, to think about them by himself and ponder on what the right thing to do would be…but did he? Deep inside, he wanted Richie to stay, to sit back down on the bed with him and…stay. Thinking about a scenario like that cooled his breathing, but the frustration and the confusion stayed steady.
They where standing about a foot away from each other, almost like they where both waiting for something to happen, but neither knew what.
“Ed’s?” Richie whispered cautiously, not wanting to spark another panic. Eddie looked up at him, at Richie’s stupid curls, and his dumb, cartoonish glasses; his crooked nose.
What possed him to this, he would never be able to tell you, it simply…felt right.
In a swift motion of thoughtless action, Eddie grasped the neckline of Richie’s hoodie and pulled him in. Their lips crashed together for a split second, noses bumping and teeth knocking into each other. It wasn’t pretty, that’s for sure.
Eddie stepped into it, his eyes scrunched shut, as if closing them hard enough would make him simply disappear. They stayed like that for a second, Eddie pulling away just as quickly as he had pulled Richie in.
They looked at each other for a moment, Richie’s eyes wide with shock, his mouth hanging open just a bit, obviously taken aback. Eddie saw this and realization began to settle in. He dropped his hands back down to his sides and stepped back.
“I…uh, I didn’t, no….im sorry, you should…you should go.” He muttered, rambling on as his eyes darted around the room. He had royally messed up, what he had done would go down in history as the greatest fumble known to man. Richie would hate him forever, never talk to him again, storm out of the house and go make out with his girlfriend or something! But Richie stayed, unmoving. Simply watching Eddie loose his sanity a few feet away.
“Eddie?” Eddie finally looked back up at his friend, or could he even call him that anymore. He’d find out soon enough.
Before Richie could speak again, Eddies voice cut in, “just leave, Richie. Go, I don’t…just go!” He hollarded, waving his hands around before pointing back to the window. He kept his head down so he wouldn’t have to confront Richie’s face again.
Tozier watched Eddies antics and decided it would probably be best to go. He made his way back to the window silently. Another word out of him would probably cause Eddie to explode. He climbed out of the window and left.
Eddie was left standing in the middle of his bedroom, all was quiet except for the headache inducing ceiling fan. He let out a loud sigh, shuffling over to his bed before falling face first onto his pillow. He squeezed his eyes shut, holding his breath. His face started to feel hot and wet streaks began to form on his cheeks. His breathing became rough and he coughed a few times, letting himself just get it all out; a part of him praying to never see Richie again.