Work Text:
The sound of wood carving was horrendous, but somehow satisfying.
As Richie Tozier dug his army knife into the wood panelling of the bridge, he carved a message he hoped would last forever, a proclamation of love that would last even longer.
The river ran underneath the bridge with rapid pace, which almost numbed the screeches of metal to wood, but Richie’s other senses took hold.
He smelt the raw wood shavings from his carving, he tasted the salty summer air that littered his lungs, he saw the vision of his carving, the idea of what it would become.
It was artistic, Richie supposed. No matter how simple his creative proclamation of love was, it still meant the world to him. Maybe one day his love would find it, and they would treasure it too.
He carved out his idea, two letters, one for himself and one for his love showing how they were joined. Letters that displayed how Richie begged his love would bind them together forever.
‘R + E’
Richie and Eddie.
Nestled between other carvings and graffiti, but still standing out.
Richie’s creation was the biggest, and proudest, amongst the array of carvings. Stories told by many generations of lovestruck Derry teenagers, now Richie tells one too. His story.
The story of a love that keeps him awake at night, that makes him nervous and fidgety, that didn't think he could ever find a way to live without.
He takes a step back and wipes the sweat off his brow. He uses the bottom corner of his shirt to wipe fog off his glasses, and he admires it.
He thinks it’s beautiful, maybe almost as beautiful as the boy he loved.
Of course though, that wasn’t easy to achieve.
And even worse, telling Eddie that he loved him was no simple feat either. The world wasn’t accepting of people like Richie, they could be bullied, abused or even killed because they were different.
Even if Eddie rejected Richie it would be even more terrible, Richie would lose both his love and the best friend he had ever known at once.
He still had to let it out somehow.
He had carved with passion and love and-
“Hey Richie!”
Richie’s body locked up, he tried to breathe but his lungs wouldn’t listen to his brain. He would’ve recognized that voice if he’d had to hone in on it in a room of booming jet engines.
He had been caught by the last person he would ever want to.
He had been caught by Eddie.
“Eds, I uh- Hey! What are you doing here?”
“Derry is a small town, Richie, there’s not a lot of places to go.”
“Right.” Richie sighed.
“Better question, what are you doing here?” He chuckled, “You were bent over more than your mum when I screw her!”
“I don’t know if I really wanna hear that right now Eds.”
“Richie Tozier? Not in the mood for I fucked your mom jokes? Something must be terribly wrong.”
“No, I’m just not in the best mood, that's all.” Richie says.
He took his glasses off and wiped them on his shirt, they kept fogging up from the heated embarrassment radiating off his face.
Of all the people who could’ve caught him, it was the one person who mattered the most, the one his carving was about. How fucking convenient.
Eddie continued.
“Seriously though, what were you doing?”
“I told you Eds, nothing!”
Eddie smirked, almost like he knew something, and boy was that right.
“You were carving something in the bridge paneling weren’t you”
Eddie pushed his glasses up with a nervous, shaky finger.
“N-no.” He stammered
“Come on Richie, couples have been carving declarations of love on these planks for decades, so who’s the lucky girl?”
Richie almost laughed
“There is no girl!” He said, which wasn’t a complete lie but certainly not the truth.
“Don’t lie to me Richie, I can see you trying to cover it up with your body! Now move!”
Eddie grabbed Richie by the shoulder and rolled him over, no longer blocking the carving, but instead with both boys tumbling leaving Eddie seated on Richie’s lap in almost a wrestling mounted position.
Feeling Eddie's skin on his made warmth spread through Richie’s chest. Where his hand had grabbed Richie’s shoulder, where Eddie's whale shorts had ridden up during their tussle.
Richie took in all of Eddie’s beauty. After Eddie sees the carving it might be the last they ever even speak.
Eddie dismounted Richie, who finally let out a breath he didn’t even realise he had been holding in from his anxiousness.
Eddie turns and squints quizzically at Richie’s carving. He cocks his head, displaying his deep contemplation almost comically.
“Well,” Eddie says, “R is definitely for you, Richie. But who is E?”
Richie shakes his head, “Not telling.”
“I honestly can’t think of it, we don’t really know any E’s. Oh! Beverly? Maybe you call her Ev when you two are in private? I know you’re big on nicknames.”
“Only really with you.”
Richie can’t believe he said that. It feels so personal. Like it’s the closest thing he had ever made to a face to face confirmation of his love for Eddie. He wanted to take it further.
If Eddie could guess that he was the E, then Richie was going to let him.
“No, you’re wrong,” Richie replied, “I’ve never even hung out with Beverly in a one on one situation before.”
“Hmm okay then.”
Richie felt the anticipation building up.
Eddie guessed again, “Maybe an Everly, or Emily or even an Elizabeth! But we don’t even know any of those! Wait, maybe I don’t but you do?”
Richie’s anticipation continued to grow, “I certainly know them but suppose you do too.”
“Suppose?”
“Just keep guessing Eds.”
“Well you’re not giving me many hints.” Eddie scolded.
Richie adjusted his glasses and his cheeks turned scarlet. He couldn't tell if it was from frustration or love.
“Eddie, trust me when I say you know who it is, it's the person I hang out with most, the one who I call my best friend and I would honestly die without. I see this person every day and every night I'm away from them it feels like a part of me has been broken off and lost forever.”
Richie gazed into Eddie’s eyes, his heart pounding louder and faster every second that they stayed like with. Eddie’s forehead creased and he cocked his head slightly, displacing some of his perfectly groomed hairs from his combover.
The look that was forming in Eddie’s eyes, Richie was sure it was realisation.
He was sure Eddie knew.
Eddie took a small breath before he spoke, but Richie’s anticipation for what he would say stretched the breath out, so that it felt longer.
Richie sighed as the words left Eddie’s lips
“I don’t know.”
Richie was so mad he could've punched Eddie, the love of his life, right in the mouth.
“Oh my fucking god Eddie, are you retarded? It’s you! I love you!”
Richie recoiled away from Eddie, surprised hands cupped over his mouth in realisation of what he just admitted.
He was willing to bet his life that might be the last thing he ever says to Eddie.
But Eddie had no reaction, his best poker face on, he stared blankly into Richie’s eyes.
It almost seemed like Richie was more disgusted than Eddie was.
Richie shouted, “Well don't just stand there Eddie please do something! I dont care whether you punch me or cuss me out or even never speak to me again, just something. Anything! It’s infinitely better than nothing.”
Eddie’s face remained blank for a while, until a small smile began to tickle at his lips, widening until he couldn't help but smile with full teeth. Even worse, he started chuckling.
Out of all the reactions Richie had run through his anxious head, this had never been one of them.
Eddie took small steps toward Richie, as if he was approaching a spooked animal, and once close enough, reached his arms up and wrapped them around Richie's neck in the most tender and loving gesture Richie has ever seen.
Then they kiss.
It was perfect, exactly how Richie had imagined, if not then even better.
It felt like a dance, they moved around each other's lips as if they already knew the motions, sliding into gaps and making contact with perfect synchrony.
Richie had waited almost his whole life for this moment, and he didn't feel ready to let go.
As Eddie pulled away, he kept his arms around Richie so they were still connected.
An impossibly awkward string of saliva strung out between their two close faces, before flinging back, and all over Richie’s glasses.
“Oh!” Eddie apologised, “Let me get that for you.”
Then lifting the bottom hem of his shirt to Richie’s glasses, wiping the spittle off the lenses, and simultaneously exposing Eddie’s torso.
Richie panicked and blushed at the intimate sight of Eddie, the body of a boy that he once again longed for when Eddie pulled his shirt back down.
Richie shook his head comically, to really focus on the moment.
Eddie laughed, “What was that?”
“Sorry,” Richie smiled, “Just making sure this is real.”
“Oh it's very much real.”
“Its just that I've dreamed of this for so long, its surreal to me that its happening.”
“I feel that way too.” Eddie admitted.
“Wait, you really liked me?”
“Fuck yeah! I thought it was obvious how much of a bumbling mess I become when I'm around you.”
“Absolutely not,” Richie replied, “I was the absolute wreck.”
“Okay, it doesn't need to be a competition, we both make each other extremely nervous.”
“Well, I'm the one who cared enough to come out here and make a mural.” Richie teased.
Eddie moved his hands up the back of Richie’s neck, tracing a pattern all the way up until his hands were clutching Eddie’s hair.
Eddie’s smile grew even wider, then he said, “What did you think I was coming out here to do Tozier?”
Richie tightened his grip on Eddie’s waist, and brought him closer, until their lips were almost brushing, teasing, with the expectation of a kiss.
“I love you so much Eddie Kasprak.”
Eddie’s other hand moving and cupping Richie’s cheek, as though he too was anticipating a kiss.
“I fucked your mum.”
Richie laughed, and then they kissed.
Just like the beautiful dance it was before, but it lasted longer. The sun escaped and hid behind the horizon before the two boys were finished.
Even then, their displays of love didn't stop, as they entwined hands squeezing and squeezing back for the whole walk home.