Wildest Dreams || Reddie Fanfic

XX

"I don't care." Richie said and walked out the door. Danny ran after him and pulled him back.

"You have to have faith in him, Rich. He's not a child."

"Do you trust that Marc guy?" Richie asked him blankly.

Danny didn't respond at first, thinking about the question. Of course he didn't. Any teacher that wants to meet a student off campus is bad news to him. "You're suffocating him."

Richie stared at him for a moment before turning away and walking down the hall. "I don't care." He muttered. Something was off, he could feel it. It wasn't right. He was over an hour late. Danny gestured to Elio and Connor and the three left the building trailing behind Richie.

They walked several blocks, the sky was black now and not many cars were out. The forest was a mass of darkness on the other side of the road, rustling occasionally from the chilly breeze. A set of flashing lights could be seen in the distance and Richies heart dropped as he took off running, followed closely by the others. As they came up on the scene, Richie was rushing around searching for Eddie.

"Eddie!" He shouted and turned in a circle, the world felt like it was spinning too fast. "Eddie!" Finally he caught sight of Eddie, he was facing away from him, talking to a police officer who was recording in a notebook. He couldn't help but notice Eddie was standing taller right now, holding himself differently. It looked good. Beside him, sitting on a curb, was a younger looking girl, she was wearing a blanket over her shoulders and wiping tears from her face. "Eddie," He said softer as he approached him, putting his hand on Eddie's arm.

Eddie turned to look at Richie, relief in his doe eyes at the sight of him. However, he could see Richie did not hold the same relief, his eyes held sadness and anger.

"What happened to you?" Richie asked, the boys finally approached and stared at Eddie. He wasn't a sight for sore eyes, he looked fine actually. His lip was a bit swollen and busted open and his knuckles were busted and bleeding as well, but aside from that, he was okay. Eddie smile softly, wincing a bit at the pain in his lip.

"Give me a minute, okay?" Eddie said softly and turned back to the police officer. "It was dark, so I couldn't really see their faces well, but they were both tall. At least six feet tall." That was a lie, he knew exactly who they were.

"Okay, is there anything else you can tell us about them?" The police officer jotted down the height estimate. "Did they have anything on them like a school uniform?" Eddie met eyes with the girl and she shook her head alittle. Eddie sighed softly and shook his head.

"I'm sorry... like I said I couldn't see many details." Eddie apologized. The police officer thanked them both and left to speak with his fellow officers. Eddie knelt to the girl and peered into her tired face. "Are you alright? That must've been pretty scary." The girl looked up at him with tearful eyes and nodded.

"Y-yes. I'll be okay. Th-thank you... for saving me." She said quietly. "And for not saying anything." Her voice was a whisper that only Eddie could hear. "He threatened to kill me..." He spoke with her a moment longer before turning to his friends finally.

"Sorry, guys. I didn't mean to make you worry." He scratched the back of his neck and glanced back at the alley way.

"What happened, Eddie?" Danny asked. Eddie took a deep breath gestured them to follow him somewhere else to speak in private.

"I was walking back to campus and I heard a girl calling for help in the alley. Two guys were... assaulting her. So I interrupted and she ran. Her face was so scared." He trailed off and shook his head. "Anyway, there was a bit of an altercation. But once they heard the police sirens they ran off into the forest."

"Who was it?" Richie asked. Eddie faltered, his face fell.

"If you tell anyone about this, I will kill you and everyone you love. I'll kill the girl too. I'm not kidding." Theo growled and slammed him against the wall. He was panting and his eye was swollen, as well as his lip. Eddie had gotten a few punches in prior. "Starting with your little boyfriend and there's nothing Daniel or anyone else can do to stop it. He may be infatuated with you now, but you'll become dispensable one day, they all do." Eddie didn't understand what that meant, but that's what Kade had said too. Eddie glanced to his friend, whose name he didn't know, his face was stone cold, but even Eddie could recognize the fear of Theo behind his eyes. "You didn't see us." The sounds of sirens grew closer in the distance and Theo headbutted him in the mouth, hard, busting his lip open and dropping him to his feet. The look on his face shook fear into Eddie's bones and he vaguely remembered seeing that unhinged look somewhere before. He wasn't bluffing.

"I really don't know. I couldn't see them very well." He muttered and looked away. "I'm sorry."

"That's not true." Danny said and stepped forwards. "You just said you saw the girls face. So you must've seen the mens faces too. Why are you lying? Not just to us, but to the police as well." Eddie didn't say anything, just clenched his jaw and studied his knuckles. "We can help, Eddie. You just have to let us."

Eddie looked at all of them and his heart ached. He cared for them all so deeply and the look on Theos face genuinely scared him. He hadn't seen a look so rawly psychotic since Mr. James. He couldn't risk hurting his friends. That girl. Hurting himself? He didn't care about that. At least he could try to protect his friends. He smiled a sad smile at them and chuckled softly. "I'm sorry... but I can't tell you."

"Are you being threatened?" Richie asked quietly. Eddie glanced towards the forest and then closed his eyes. This sparked anger in all of them, watching Eddie keep this secret under the veil of a threat.

"Let's head back to campus." Eddie said light heartedly and walked past them. Though his head was held high, his steps were cautious and light, barely making a sound on the concrete.