Because I'm Still in Love With You

Chapter 5

While Bev and Richie were sitting on the porch, Ben opened the door and asked them to come inside. All the Losers were sitting in the living room and Richie immediately looked to Eddie. He was still sleep rumpled and Richie's heart fucking melted. When he thought Eddie couldn't get any more cute he yawned and rubbed his eyes like a toddler. Richie plopped himself down next to him and pinched his cheek. "Cute, cute, cute!" Eddie frowned and slapped Richie's hand away. "Fuck off, asshole." Eddie grumbled. Ben interrupted before RIchie could respond, "So I was thinking we needed a bit of fun-"
"Y-you c-c-could say that again."
"And we have a boat that we can go tubing on the lake."
"That sounds like so much fun!" Mike says enthusiastically.
"I can help you with your bandages, Eds." Richie says, turning to Eddie.
"Oh shit Eddie yeah, I'm sorry I totally spaced your bandages." Ben apologizes.
"Don't worry man, it's totally cool." Eddie smiles and leans into Richie's side. They chatted a bit, ate some food, and they all split up to change into their swimsuits. Once Richie was changed, he stared at himself in the mirror. He saw his stomach roll slightly over the waistline of his trunks. He frowned and pulled his shorts up a little higher. He decided to pull a Hawaiian shirt on and buttoned it up, leaving the two top buttons open. He was grabbing his phone and baseball cap when he heard a knock on his door.  "Hey Rich, can you help with my bandages?"
"Yeah come on in." Eddie opens the door with a box of plastic wrap
"Thanks for helping me, I usually do it by myself for showers and stuff, but I need it to be super tight if I wanna tube."
"Yeah no problem." Eddie sat down on Richie's bed and took his shirt off. Richie will never get tired of Eddie shirtless. I'm so fucking lucky. Richie thought to himself. "Here, hand it over." Richie said holding out his hand. Eddie placed the plastic wrap in Richie's waiting palm. Richie wrapped it around Eddie's chest multiple times. "Is it too tight?"
"No, no it's fine."
"Okay, good." They sat in silence as Richie finished up. "There you go, all finished." They walk out into the living room and wait for everyone else to get ready.
Bill and Mike were sitting in the front of the boat while Bev was driving, Ben's hands wrapped around her waist. Richie and Eddie were sitting on the back. After they drive farther into the lake, Bev slows to a stop. "Alright, who's first?" she asks while grinning devilishly. Bill's hand immediately shot up, "Me and Mike!" Mike looks mortified.
"Bill-"
"C'mon man, it'll be fun!" Mike groans and tilts his head back. "Get up, we're going." Bill punches arm and stands up. Mike gets up slowly and trudges to the back of the boat while Ben unravels the rope for the tube. They carefully clamber onto the tube once it's in the water. "I'm gonna fucking kill you." Mike mumbles under his breath.
"Oh you big baby, you're gonna be fine!" Bill teases back. Bev starts moving the boat again, slow at first, but then picking up speed. She takes sharp turns and makes donuts to toss Mike and Bill over the wave the boat created. Bill is whooping and hollering, all the while Mike is screaming and holding on for dear life. Thankfully the tube is a sit down, so it's not as easy to fall off of. Bev eventually catches a huge wave, throwing Bill off, but Mike is still holding on. "Ha!" Mike screams and looks back at Bill's head bobbing up and down, "Take that you bitch!" Everyone laughs at the outburst and Ben starts to pull the tube back in while Bill starts to swim back to the boat which Bev is pulling around to get closer.
Richie nudges Eddie with his elbow, "You ready? We're next." He flashes Eddie a toothy grin as the smaller man rolls his eyes. Richie stands up and pulls off his cap and shirt, tucking them into a small compartment under one of the seats. Eddie can't take his eyes off of him. Of course he's seen Richie without a shirt before, but he still can't help but stare in awe. The dark hair that seemed to cover every inch of his torso. The large happy trail that dipped below his waist band. He noticed Richie suck in his stomach somewhat and pull his shorts up a little higher to cover it. Eddie frowned and felt a twang of sadness. The feeling turned into confusion when he noticed three small scars on Richie's thighs, one on the left, two on the right. Richie seemed to notice they were showing as well, and pulled the hem down slightly to cover them. When Richie was done adjusting he moved to hold a hand out to Eddie. He took it and stood up. Richie helped Eddie onto the tube in such a way that made him giddy. "You better throw us off Bevvy!" Eddie scowled and shoved him.
"Don't worry, I won't go too hard for the cripple." Bev yelled back.
"Excuse you?" Eddie shrieked. Richie burst into laughter. As much as Eddie tried to maintain his glare, he couldn't help but grin.
They both yelled in joy as the tube whipped around and flew into the air. Eddie felt weightless and he didn't have a single negative thought in his head. He felt he could confidently say the same for Richie, although he was pretty sure Richie had zero thoughts in his head most of the time anyways. Bev took a fairly harsh turn, which had the tube on it's side. Eddie could feel the cold water on his leg and the tug of it from how fast they were going. Suddenly he felt the water catch the lip of his shorts and they were pulled off. Panicking, Eddie bailed and threw himself into the water. He immediately felt a pain in his chest, but when he came up for air he noticed none of the bandages were coming off. Thank god, thank you Richie. Eddie thought as he treaded water. After looking around, he noticed that Richie was in the water a few feet away from him. He was chuckling as he swam closer. "Why'd you bail spaghetti?" He yelled.
"Don't come any closer!" Eddie screamed back frantically. Richie's goofy smile dropped almost instantly.
"Are you okay? Is your chest okay?"
"Yeah, uh- everything's fine just please don't get any closer."
"Am I allowed to ask why?" Eddie looked down, extremely embarrassed. What was taking Bev so damn long?
"Well, the reason I bailed was..." Richie raised one eyebrow
"Yeah?"
"Well- I uh," he cleared his throat, "my shorts came off?" He stated it like a question. Richie bites the inside of his cheek and Eddie can see him holding back his laughter.
"Don't you fucking dare." Eddie deadpanned. Richie held out for about two more seconds before exploding. "This isn't funny dickead!"
"Oh my god!" Richie was howling with laughter. Soon Eddie joined him. After their laughter died down, Richie noticed how close they were. He felt heat rise in his cheeks as he remembered that Eddie was butt-ass naked right now. Luckily he was saved from having to say anything by the boat pulling up beside them.
Richie climbed in and grabbed Eddie's beach towel and went back to the edge where Eddie was still in the water. "C'mon, I got you." Eddie tried his best to climb in while covering himself. Richie did end up seeing his dick as he wrapped the towel around Eddie's waist before any of the Losers saw. Richie blushed and looked anywhere other than Eddie. "Why'd you bail Eddie?" Ben shouted with a bright smile. Eddie frowned.
"His fucking shorts came off!" Richie yelled back before Eddie could answer.
"Fuck you!" Eddie screamed and slapped him on the shoulder. Richie was dying laughing and the rest of the boat joined him. Except Eddie of course.
They were out on the boat for a few more rides and Richie constantly asked Eddie if he was bored, seeing as he couldn't get in. Eddie, even though he couldn't get in the water, was having a great time just being with his friends and joking around. He was so grateful that he could have his friends right now in such a weird time in all their lives. After everyone was done riding on the tube, Bev just drove around while they listened to music. Eventually they pulled into the dock and made the walk back up to the house in the dark. They all take showers, get changed, and meet back in the living room. They have lively chatter and once it dies down they end up putting on a movie. Bill and Ben have fallen asleep about half way through the movie. They watch in silence, Richie adding commentary every now and then that makes the others roll their eyes. Once the credits start rolling, Bev wakes Ben up and Mike wakes Bill up. They all say goodnight to each other and go back to their beds. Eddie just walks into Richie's room without a word and Richie doesn't question it. "Are you tired?" Eddie eventually asks, breaking the silence.
"Not really to be honest." Richie responds truthfully. He walks into the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth and Eddie joins in. They both clamber into Richie's bed, it's pretty roomy, but there's less space than in Richie's bed at their house.
"Do you wanna watch another movie?" Eddie asks when they've settled in the bed.
"Yeah sure, we can watch it on my phone or something."
"Sounds good. What do you wanna watch?"
"How about Terrifier?" Richie sarcastically suggests.
"What's Terrifier?" Oh this is too perfect, Richie thought.
"Oh you know, just a movie." Eddie narrows his eyes at Richie and scowls.
"What kind of movie."
"A horror movie... about.."
"What's it about, Richie?"
"A, uh, a killer clown."  Richie couldn't hold back the snort that escaped. Eddie jabs Richie in the side, which turns into an all-out tickle fight. They're giggling like they were thirteen again. "Oh ow, ow." Eddie hisses suddenly. Richie pulls back like he's been burned.
"I'm so sorry, did I hurt you?" Richie's eyes are blown wide.
"No, no I'm okay. It's probably just sore from me hitting the water."
"Oh shit yeah, probably. You hit the water pretty hard."
"I'll be alright in the morning. Now can we find a movie to watch that won't give me a panic attack?" Richie's laughs and leans his head back on the pillow.
"Sure Ed's, you can pick it." They decide on a movie fairly quickly and Eddie snuggles into Richie's side. He leans his head down on Richie's chest and asks, "Is this ok?"
"'Course it is." Richie smiles, both of them sporting bright blushes. Richie holds up the phone for both of them to see. The movie plays on and Richie can feel his eyelids getting heavy. He dares to sneak a glance at Eddie and finds that he is fast asleep. Richie smiles softly and puts his phone on the bedside table. He wraps his arm around Eddie's shoulders and Eddie lays his arm across Richie's stomach in his sleep. Richie falls asleep fast and with a smile tugging on his lips.