my favorite color • reddie

d a l a w a m p u ' t s i y a m

Richie walked out of the alley, feeling the air slice into the cuts and bruises on his face. He winced, feeling a sharp pain in his ribs where Henry had kicked him repeatedly.

He shuffled forward. He was exhausted and defeated.

Everything had happened so quickly and before he knew it, Richie was limping down the street, struggling to catch his breath, taking too deep breaths sent a sharp pain into his ribs.

Richie looked up from his feet and realized he was being stared at. Men, women and children, staring at him, but they were all worried.

But Richie's guilt convinced him they were judging. Like they knew about what just happened.

But he couldn't find it in himself to care.

They don't know what he just went though, so why should he? They don't know what he's been feeling in the past few months, the amount of times he questioned himself and wondered if we wanted to allow himself to live like this. He knew it wouldn't be an easy life, but he also knew he wouldn't be happy if he chose to live any other way.

Eddie fell into his lap for a reason. It was a sign for Richie to live a life he would be happy in.

Every step was more painful than the last, taking more and more energy out of him by the second. He felt weak, like his body was slowly starting to shut down. He was sure how much longer he would be able to keep himself up. Any last bit of fight left in him had either been punched or kicked out of his body.

But no matter how much everything hurt, he still had a reason to keep going.

Eddie.

The only person that made him feel like nothing else was real. He created  a comfortable fantasy for them that they both loved escaping to.

Eddie made him feel free, even if they had to hide what they had, being with him was the most liberating thing he's ever done.

Richie had been a victim of Henry's relentless harassment since he was young, to him this was something he expected. He'd been eased into this since he was a kid, Eddie wasn't. He lived a more sheltered life and didn't know what it was like to get punched or shoved simply because Henry felt like it.

Richie also knew how sensitive and anxious Eddie was. He must've been scared shitless. Richie was too, but for different reasons. Henry's attacks on him and his friends had become something normal to him, the insults towards his sexuality had little to no effect on him in the past because no one knew he was gay. He felt like there was no reason for him to be upset.

But now that his friends knew, it was different. It felt more personal and now that Henry had verified that he really was every name he had tainted him with, Richie didn't know how far he was willing to go to hurt him.

For years Henry had done things like this to him and his friends and he always got away with it. It made him sad more than it made him angry. Because no one cared. They knew Henry walked around with a heavy, hateful heart and they just didn't care.

It hurt to think about how many other kids he hand done this to. How many other kids he'd scared into staying home during the summer, made feel unsafe or ashamed of something out of their control. Henry's taunting seemed to never end. That bothered Richie to no end.

He stared down at dark stains on his clothes, covered in what he assumed to be blood. Hot tears slipped out of his eyes and dropped down onto his shirt.

The sun had started to set and the air was starting to get colder, stinging against the cuts on his face while in other areas it was soothing. His bruises were still hot and pulsing through this body.

Richie was amazed himself that he was still walking and made it as far as he did. He felt so close to fainting but knowing he was going to see Eddie kept him going. He needed to make sure he was okay, he needed to hold him and tell him he would be if he wasn't. He also needed to apologize to him. The last time they talked was at school and Richie didn't like how they ended the conversation, he wanted to really apologize and explain himself.

Richie looked up to see the familiar blue house he'd been to a thousand times.

He smiled.

*evil laughter*

also i apologize for my cute little hiatus 😍