Chapter Text
It was the summer of 89, the sun was high and bright, not a single cloud in the sky. The Losers were officially out of school; they had finally finished 6th grade. Richie was bragging about how he was going to destroy his high score at the arcade, while Stan talked to Bill about his preparation for Bar Mitzvah, and how his father expects him to do it perfectly. Bev was laughing with Ben about The New Kids On The Block, how some of the titles of their songs were silly.
Eddie was the first to speak up,
“You wanna spend your entire summer inside the arcade, Richie? Why would you do that when you could hang out with our group?”
Richie shrugged, dumping all his old work into the trash bin. “Because I know I’ll beat my score this time? You can always watch me, Eds, if you’re so scared of being alone.e I can teach ya how to play properly.”
Eddie scoffed even though he wasn’t really irritated. “And risk getting sick from all those controls that SO many people use? Yeah, no thanks, I’ll pass, Rich.”
Bill smiled slightly, “C-Come on, Richie, w-we can go down to the q-quarry later!” Bill stuttered as he grabbed his bike.
“I suppose my high score can wait a day.” Richie sighed dramatically, falling against Eddie in hopes of him catching him. Sadly, Eddie just moved back, making Richie fall on his ass, forcing a small oof sound to come out of him.
“Hey, you jerk! You dropped me!” Eddie smiled at Richie, who was sitting on the ground, before he held a hand out. Richie took Eddie’s hand, and he held it tightly so Eddie couldn’t pull away.
Richie’s grin widened, and he soon looked like the Chesier Cat. “I didn’t wash my hands after the bathroom, and you're holding the hand I used.” Eddie’s expression dropped, and he looked utterly mortified. “Let me go! Your germs are spreading to my hands. You know you can get me sick?! I-I could get Norovirus, Salmonella, Hepatitis A, or Pneumonia!” Eddie said, desperately trying to pull his hand away as he ranted off more diseases one could catch from the Unwashed Hand.
Richie just laughed in response to Eddie freaking out before releasing Eddie’s hand. “Calm down, Eds, I’m just messing with you.” Eddie wasn’t listening, though; he was cleaning his hands thoroughly with hand sanitizer that killed 99% of all germs before he pulled out wipes, cleaning his hands.
“You gonna pull out soap and a sink next, Eddie?” Eddie glared at Richie, “Shut up, Richie! I could die from these germs, and it’ll be all your fault.” Richie pouted, slinging an arm around Eddie.
“C-Come on, let's go to the q-quarry.” Bill stuttered, “before B-Bowers sees us.” Richie scoffed before putting Eddie in a headlock, giving him a noogie. “Come on, Bill! We ain't scared of Bowers, right Eddie?” Eddie shoved Richie off him. “Speak for yourself, Richie!”
Richie laughed, “I could take Bowers in a fight and win. All that he is is a mullet-wearing asshole who sucks his dad.” As if on cue, Henry and his gang came around the corner. Henry was grinning while he walked next to Patrick, while Vic and Belch followed behind. “You say somethin’ Tozier?”
Richie chuckled nervously, his cockyness slipping for a moment. “Say something? Who me? Pfft, never!” Henry nodded, “Right, right, because you don’t have a big mouth, then maybe I was imagining someone else.” Richie laughed, “Exactly..!”
Henry looked down at his hand, then up at Eddie, then back at his hand, grinning. “Hey Wheezy, wanna see a cool trick? I promise it’s nothin’ gross.” Eddie hesitated before nodding, " What is it?” Henry brought his hand to his mouth before he licked it, and he rubbed his hand on Eddie’s cheek, laughing, as Eddie started to panic and squawk like a bird. “Oh my god, look at him!” Henry barked.
Bev pulled Eddie back by his arm, “Leave him alone, Henry.” Henry scowled, “And what are you gonna do about it,t Marsh? You all realize you don’t have to be so nice to her, she’ll do you. All you gotta do is ask, like I did.” Henry said, grinning before making a small thrust of his hips for emphasis. “Cya freaks!” and with that, the Bowers gang walked off.
Bill tried to say something, but Ben cut him off, “Ignore him, Bev, he’s just a jerk.”
Stan put a comforting hand on Bill's shoulder with a small smile, while Mike stood there quietly.
Richie was helping Eddie clean his cheek off. “Eds breathe, come on,n Eddie breathe. You're not gonna die, just look at me, okay?” Eddie was trying to clean off the germs with hand sanitizer, but Richie stopped him since it was not safe for his skin. “Eddie, stop, come on, we can clean it off in the bathroom, we'll meet you guys at the quarry, okay?”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Richie took Eddie to the bathroom, helping him clean his cheek, laughing while Eddie was washing his face with hand soap in the bathroom. “God you’re such a germaphobe, Eds.”
Eddie rolled his eyes in response despite him saying he hated that nickname and part of him loved it. He was currently drying his face with the thin, rough paper towels the school had provided. He had managed to splash Richie with the water, laughing a bit. As Eddie pulled the towel away from his face, he noticed Richie cleaning his glasses with his shirt, how the water seemed to make him glow in the bad lighting.
Eddie had felt his heart skip a beat, and he froze, thinking to himself,
Why do I feel like this? What the hell. Am I falling in love with Richie?!
Eddie felt himself go pink in the cheeks; luckily, Richie hadn’t noticed because if he did, there would have been a laughing fit from him, and Richie would have never let Eddie live that down.
- End Chapter 1 -