lightning : reddie

13

the two had gone to a plant shop and now, returning home, richie was struggling to hold all three plants (one succulent, a spider plant, and a snake plant) in his hands and get his keys at the same time. eddie, who was laughing at him and holding a succulent of his own, just reached into richie's front jeans pocket for him.

richie nearly turned bright red. eddie got the key out and unlocked richie's door, richie sighing in thankfulness.

"okay, so now that we've fulfilled the plant portion of the date, we're gonna bake. sound good?" richie said, putting the plants down on his counter. eddie put his down beside it and richie turned to him, gently kissing him. eddie smiled.

"yeah, sure. i can't bake for shit though, you've been warned. i wasn't allowed to eat anything sweet as a kid." eddie warned, moving into the kitchen. he watched as richie opened a cupboard full to baking supplies.

eddie never understood how bakers (or cooks, for that matter) bought the right amount of ingredients. did they just eyeball? did they buy bulk?

"oh, you had one of those moms," richie said, half joking. his mom had always been kind to richie regarding his diet. his dad hadn't been the same, forcing him to try things that resulted in him throwing up.

eddie almost laughed, "oh, absolutely. she was the mother that those moms wished they were. i basically had a strict diet of medication and cough syrup. and maybe a slice of whole wheat toast." he finished talking and reflected on how concerning it might have sounded. to be fair, it wasn't like he hadn't survived. he was here now, alive, and yeah sometimes he struggled to break out of her grip, but he could most days.

"jesus, that sounds horrible. your dad ever take you to the sweet shop when she wasn't looking?" richie asked. if he recalled right, when stanley was a really little kid, his parents were like that. his mom was strict but his dad would secretly let him do forbidden things with him on the weekend. as he grew up, his dad developed the same strict attitude.

"didn't have a dad. he died when i was little." eddie avoided looking at richie and richie nearly dropped the flour container he was getting out of the cupboard.

"oh. i'm sorry." richie said, watching eddie carefully. finally, eddie brought his head up, shrugging.

"s'okay, i didn't mean to bring the mood down." eddie said, scratching the back of his head. he grabbed the container of sugar for richie and passed it to him.

"it's alright. if you want, you can just watch me bake." richie hugged the container of sugar in his arms for a moment, turning to face eddie. eddie smiled.

"that sounds nice." eddie hopped up onto the counter and sat back against the countertop. richie couldn't help a smile from growing on his face. "what are you making?" eddie asked.

"uh, cookies probably," richie answered, distracted by how good eddie looked at the moment. richie put down the container of sugar in his hands and wandered over to eddie. eddie parted his legs a little so that richie could stand in between them.

richie rested his hands on eddie's neck and let out a sigh, "you're so fucking fine, eds, it makes me upset." eddie giggled, and richie kissed him. the kiss turned desperate pretty fast. eddie's hands lied over richie's shoulders. richie's hand rested behind eddie's head as he pushed him into the cupboards.

they kissed for another minute or two until nicky rubbed her side into richie's ankles. he broke away and laughed. he looked down at her, "whaat? what did you have to interrupt me for?" he asked, in a surprisingly gentle tone.

eddie laughed, leaning in to kiss richie on the forehead.

"okay, get back to your cookie making." eddie said, pushing lightly at his chest. richie grabbed both of eddie's hands and kissed them, eddie giggling. richie turned to a radio sitting next to eddie. he turned it on and fiddled with it for a second before turning away.

"i'm going, i'm going. you're just so cute. it's distracting." richie went to the other side of the kitchen, grabbing a bowl from a tall cupboard. he grabbed it with ease, and eddie envied it.

"you can kiss me later. after you've made the cookie dough, that way we'll taste good." eddie joked, richie nodding. he put the bowl down and began to open containers.

"mm, you make a fantastic proposition, eds." richie pointed in the air with his finger. he then began to get to work in making the cookie dough. eddie watched, mostly in awe as he had been when richie cooked, as richie grabbed cups and tablespoons and measured baking powder, then salt, then vanilla, and so forth.

richie was using a rather cheap electric mixer, and every minute or so, he'd have to put the whisks back into the machine, as they'd fall out.

"so... why do you watch the track meets? because that's the only way i knew your face." eddie asked during one of the moments where richie was putting the whisks back in. richie turned his head, and his hair flipped with him. he got the whisks back in and cleared his throat, putting the mixer down.

"truthfully? i thought you were really cute. i was gonna talk to you one of those times, but i got too nervous because what if you found me weird and then we had awkward interactions at the door, or something." richie told eddie, who had a look of disbelief on his face. as richie talked, he took a skinny elastic band on his wrist and used it to tie up half of his hair (the other half wasn't long enough, not that it was really doing much by being tied up). eddie would've been lying if he had said it wasn't one of the hotter things he'd watched richie do.

"you're lying. no fuckin' way." eddie replied, swinging one of his legs off the counter. it swung back and forth. richie took his hands away from his hair and picked the electric mixer up again.

"no, i'm truthing! you can ask mike, i talked to him about cute track boy for hours. he hates me for it." richie pointed at eddie with the mixer, eddie laughing. he turned it back to the bowl and placed it inside, turning it on and making a loud racket.

"that's so cute." eddie mumbled, watching as richie's head bobbed back and forth to the music.