Wildest Dreams || Reddie Fanfic

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His smile. It was always so warm and inviting. It was never supposed to be this way. Richie stood in the back of a dark desolate church, faceless nobodies murmuring about. At the end of the seemingly endless aisle sat a deep mahogany colored coffin, the lid propped open revealing a body to those walking by.

"Richie," Eddies voice sounded behind him, causing him to jump and twirl around. His body grew rigid and stiff as he saw that nobody was there. "Richie," this time it sounded right by his ear. He spun around once more to find Eddie standing there, his feather brown hair neatly combed and his black suit perfectly fitted. "Wow, your jumpy today. Sorry I'm late... have you gone up to look yet?" His voice was soft and sad, the voice of grieving.

"No..." Richie muttered, looking down to his shoes. Eddie gave him a sad smile and gestured towards the aisle.

"Let's go together, okay?" Eddie started towards the coffin, Richie trailing behind watching every step Eddie made, his heart pounding in his chest. Richie stopped just a few feet away from the coffin, but Eddie placed his silky hands on the edge of it, glancing down into it. His face was blank now as he stared. After a moment, he turned his head to Richie, "you coming?" He asked. Richie hesitantly walked up to the coffin, making eye contact with Eddie as he did.

"Eddie, I-" Richie laid his hand on top of Eddies, but he only felt the cold unforgiving wood. Eddie smiled a solemn sweet smile.

"Richie..." he coaxed, "you know you can't touch me anymore. We discussed this." Richies vision started to water and blur as he finally glanced down to peer into the coffin. There he was, his neatly combed hair and fitted black suit, his doe brown eyes closed in permanent slumber. His face... it looked so porcelain and peaceful.

"Why are you here?" Richie asked coldly. Looking away from the Eddie standing next to him. Eddie paused at this, thinking of the right words to say.

"I thought maybe you needed help." He said simply. Richie glared at him.

"With what?" He spat. Eddie sighed and reached into his own coffin, brushing his hair back alittle more.

"I never did like this suit." He muttered as he studied himself.

"With what, Eddie?" Richie asked again. Eddie turned to him.

"Moving on." Richie felt these words stab his heart. He didn't need to move on, he didn't want to.

"No." He said simply. Eddie glanced down at his feet before looking back to his body.

"It's not your fault..." Eddies voice trailed off as Richie scoffed at this. "Richie," he said seriously, causing him to meet his gaze. "It was supposed to be this way."

Richie shot up in bed, sweat dripping down his body, his pillow and face were soaked. His hands fumbled desperately for his sweet Eddie, but he wasn't there. As he stumbled out of bed, still groggy from sleep and cold sweats, he bumped into Josh's bed, waking him up as well.

"Uhg... Richie? It's like 5am." Josh groaned and threw one of his pillows at him. "Go back to sleep." Richie paid him no mind and quickly ran out of the room and to Eddies. I have to make sure he's okay. When he reached Eddies dorm door, he was panting from running.

Knock-knock-knock

"Mmm... one sec." a sleepy voice sounded. Shortly after the door opened and Elio stood rubbing his eyes. "Rich? What's up dude? It's a bit early isn't it?"

"I just came to talk to Eddie." He muttered anxiously. Elio let him inside and turned around to face Eddies bed. The two of them froze in the doorway. "Where's... where's Eddie?" Richie asked, trying to remain calm, but the pounding of his heart grew louder and louder the longer he stared at Eddies empty bed.

"Good question. I didn't even hear him leave." Elio yawned. "Maybe he went to take a shower or go get early breakfast?" Richie swallowed hard and nodded.

"Y-yeah. You're right." He breathed out and chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm uhm, I'm gonna go look for him." 

"Hey," Elio interjected. "Are you alright, Rich? You seem... distraught." His adverted glance was all Elio needed to know he was not alright. "Why don't you come in and talk? I'm sure Eddie is fine. If he's not back soon I'll go help you look for him okay?" Richie tried to relax and nodded, walking over to Eddies bed and laying down, hugging his pillow to his chest and breathing in his lingering scent. "Why don't you tell me what's going on? Why are you up so early?"

"I- I just had a really vivid dream." He said, trying to sound nonchalant, but the waver in his voice gave him away. Elio looked at him earnestly.

"Not a good one obviously. Do you wanna talk about it?" Richie started to say no, but something stopped him. It was supposed to be this way. His eyes burned with tears as the words echoed in his head.

"Eddie was in a coffin." Richie started quietly. "I knew it was him before I even looked. I felt it. Nobody had faces, there were just blurs of color. Eddie was there, talking to me. He guided me to go look in the coffin. I didn't want it to be true, but it was. He was so... beautiful and perfect. Laying there motionless and pale. It was almost like he was just a doll." Elio nodded solemnly as he listened. "That's all I dream about now. Eddie dying. Sometimes it's from cancer, or a fire, or a gunshot wound, or... a fair ride-" his voice trailed off. "I guess you never really stop being afraid, huh?" His sad laughter caught Elio off guard. This Richie was not one he was used to seeing, where were the careless jokes and confident demeanor? This Richie seemed to be a shell. A broken down and beaten shell, a shell that looked so, so tired.

"You worry for him." Elio said simply. Richie nodded. "You worry about him so much that you don't take care of yourself." Richie met eyes with the friendly golden ones before him. "You pretend to be this outgoing confident jackass all the time, so carefree and selfish, but as soon as Eddie is involved, your true colors come out. I see your shift, when he's not looking. You look terrified, every time he turns his back or leaves the room, even for a moment, you look like you want to run after him... why?" Elio finally asked. Richie thought of a way to answer this question.

"There was a time where I wasn't there for him... a time where I almost lost him... for good. A couple times actually." Richie muttered. "A time where I swore I would be there... and I wasn't. I wasn't there and he almost died." Richie choked out, trying to remain vague. It's not my story to tell. He thought as he closed his eyes.

"It's impossible for you to be around him all the time, Richie." Elio said. "But you don't trust anyone else to be around him. Not even himself."

"Maybe one day he'll feel comfortable enough to tell you his story... I'll warn you though. It isn't for the faint of heart." He said sadly and sighed. "Any normal person probably would've ended it by now, living with the weight of his trauma. So... no. I don't trust him to be by himself either... just in case one day he becomes sane." Elio remained silent now, just staring out the window at the early morning sky.

So I was right... he's been through a lot. Apparently more than I had realized. How does someone hurting so badly, smile so brightly? Elio contemplated these thoughts for several minutes, both boys sitting comfortably in the silence, until the door to the dorm room swung open.

"Whoa..." Eddie started, looking between the two boys in front of him. "Is this an intervention or something?" He laughed as he shut the door. The two looked at him like he was the worlds greatest puzzle.

A story darker than Elio could imagine was contained inside a small brunette with a smile bright enough to blind the masses.

Don't stop smiling, Ed's. Blind us.