°°·.⬧︎ ᴀꜱᴛʀᴏɴᴏᴍʏ ⬧︎.·°° | ʀᴇᴅᴅɪᴇ |

#6: ᴛʜᴀᴛ'ꜱ ɴᴏᴛ ꜰᴜɴɴʏ

I let one hand trail just below Eddie's elbow, where his cast resided. 

His chest heaved up in the need to take another gasping breath, his eyes darting everywhere but my own. His hand seemed to move as if it wanted to grab his inhaler, but he formally decided against it. Tenderly, and with care, he let his hand settle on my outstretched one.

"I got you, see?" I raised my arm just a bit to help Eddie understand that he was safe as long as Henry stayed in the arcade. "I got you."

Eddie's lips parted in another gasping breath, which I tried to calm by rubbing my thumb over his forearm. He shuddered intensely, glancing up to meet my gaze. "You don't have to hold me," he reminded. "I can walk just fine."

"Not on wheels, you can't," I retorted. "If you fuck up your tailbone, I won't be the one taking you to the emergency room."

"Correct, it'll be my mom that will. And she'll never let me see you again," Eddie stared down at the rink thoughtfully, a knowing smile on his lips. "Win for the Kaspbrak family."

I placed a dramatic hand over my forehead. "Gee wizz, I'd never let that happen, sweet, sweet Juliette," I interlaced my fingers with Eddie's, taking a distinct step with the skates that I had put on too, prior to this moment. "To the ends of the earth for you."

"Uh huh," Eddie said unamusingly, trying to get his balance on his feet, using both roller skates, pushing one foot over the other. His grip was so tight on me that I thought he would surely pull a chunk of skin out of my arm. "Focus on making sure neither of us eat it, okay? I'm kinda counting on you here."

Everytime Eddie would look up to try to locate Henry, I'd try to rotate my body in front of his view, keeping my skates close to the ground, my knees bent just a bit. It was the casual "look at me instead"  tactic that Eddie was oblivious to. I wanted his attention all to myself, and god only knows why. If you had received Eddie's attention before, you'd understand. It's fucking amazing.

"Ay ay," I carefully held out my arm as if I was asking Eddie to dance, and without much thought, he linked his own arm around mine, keeping a steady focus on his feet. "One step, okay? Do it with me. One."

Eddie took a step when I did.

"Good. Two."

Another step, with the sound of our skates against the floor making slight noises against the rink. 

"Three. Easy, use your other foot and try not to put too much pressure, or you'll fall, okay?" I watched Eddie's small feet, that stepped and wobbled with every walking movement. "You get into a good pace after a while, and it'll feel like you're floating on air."

Eddie kept his head down, a look of contentment and concentration on his face. His tongue poked out from the corner of his mouth as his eyes narrowed, only to express how much he was focusing. "You do realize that if Henry ever saw this shit, we'd never get left alone again, right?"

I paused internally, but my feet continued the steady gliding pace with Eddie's.

This was true. No more free passing period with Eddie on the way to lunch. Probably a new pair of glasses every week. Constant purchases of new school computers. Always smelling like shit when you come home. Bruises and scratches on your head. Getting spit on. Getting food thrown at you. The small prices to pay for being a loser.

I breathed in.

"I'll take my chances, Eds. Now come on, let's see if you can do it on your own."

"Richie, I don't know if I-"