"ready?"

pt. ten

# chapter energy #
right down the line - gerry rafferty

*thud*
a pillow hit richie's head, he simply dozed back off.

"alright go get some fucking water," stan said.

"already got it," beverly responded, walking toward the bed.

richie rubbed his face with his hand and then turned over, snoring quietly (it was 1 in the afternoon).

"last chance tozier," bev warned, shaking his shoulder," wake up or else."

she paused a moment, knowing fairly well he would not wake up since they'd been trying for about twenty minutes at this point.

"ok, hope you like swimming," she dumped the glass of water on his head and he sprung up immediately.

he sat up and began shaking his head violently- he wiped his face in the crook of his sweater sleeve. he was still in his clothes from the night before and the comics he was reading as he fell asleep had fallen of his bed as he tossed and turned wildly all night.

"WHAT THE FUCK-" he shouted, wiping his eyes and trying to see what was going on.

everything just sort of looked like blocks of color and blurry patches of sunlight. he reached around for his glasses, blind as a bat.

"morning rich," mike smiled, handing them to him.

he clumsily placed them on the bridge of his nose, water still dripping from his bangs.

"well good fucking morning indeed," richie replied, groggily,"what time is it?"

"one in the afternoon rich," mike said with a smirk.

"shit," richie said," five more minutes man."

he threw himself back down onto the bed.

"i'll go get more water," bev said, walking back toward the doorway.

richie sprung up once again and stood next to his bed faster than the speed of light.

"ahh good morning rich," she smiled,"why don't you come join us downstairs once you've dried off a bit?"

beverly, mike, and stan all went back downstairs where ben and eddie were playing mastermind.

richie sighed, finally starting to adjust to the light. he lifted his glasses and rubbed his eyes, yawning.

he went to his door and took the towel off of the hook on the back of it. he dried his hair and face and then hung it back up. then, he got changed into a pair of corduroys and a tommy hilfiger crewneck.

"goddamnit!" eddie yelled,"that was only your second turn how are you so good at this game??"

"i dunno dude," ben shrugged,"this is my first time playing."

"bullshit," eddie sighed,"what the fuck man."

"oh hey rich!" ben said as richie walked into the living room,"you take a shower or something?"

"you could say that," stan laughed as richie sat down on the couch behind ben and eddie with a huff.

richie took of his glasses, cleaning them with the bottom of his shirt. eddie looked up at richie and then quickly looked away as he put them back on.

"alright, you're too good at this shit," eddie said, packing up the game and sliding it back under the coffee table.

"how'd you sleep eddie?" richie laughed and shot a quick look at bev who shook her head.

"very funny," eddie rolled his eyes,"just fine, i'll have you know. my stomach was in all sorts of knots when i woke up though."

"butterflies?" richie said, resting his chin in his hand and batting his eyelashes.

"i have no idea what you're talking about," eddie said glancing at the fireplace and then back to richie.

"have any dreams?" richie said, with a sly smile.

"oh shut the hell up," eddie groaned.

"alright alright-" beverly interrupted,"mike helped me make breakfast, there's some toast and eggs in the kitchen rich."

"much obliged," richie said in a thick country accent, standing up,"don't miss me too much ed's."

eddie just rolled his eyes and leaned back onto his forearms as stan began talking about a new bird he'd seen a few days ago in bassey park.

xxx

richie had finished eating and most of the losers had decided on what to do with their day. bev was gonna go find a way to replace the alcohol, mike was going with stan to go birdwatching, and ben had to study.

that left just eddie and richie. the rest of the losers went off to go about their days whilst eddie and richie settled for playing atari for a bit while they deliberated.

"you know," eddie began,"we could just go out biking for a while and see what we find."

"sounds good to me," richie replied,"let's just finish this match real quick."

they finished the round of space race and started getting ready.

"no way you're going out biking in that, it's cold as hell out," richie said, tossing eddie one of his spare jackets.

"thanks," he replied, slipping it on,"my mom'll kill me if i come home with a cold after not coming home last night."

"shit yeah-" richie said,"you never told her where you were did you?"

"mm mm," eddie shook his head,"i'll just tell her it got too late once we left the clubhouse and i ended up staying at your's. she probably won't mind too much since it's the weekend."

"true," richie responded,"probably just be a bit upset i didn't call her up last night."

"oh fuck off dude," eddie winced,"you're so gross."

"sonya doesn't seem to think so," richie winked at him.

"that's it-" eddie yelled,"we're taking this shit outside now."

he raced down the stairs and out the front door. richie quickly finished tying his chuck taylor's and raced after him, nearly tripping as he ran down the stairs. he flew out the front door and eddie tackled him to the ground immediately.

they wrestled back and forth, laughing, until eddie tapped out because he was out of breath.

"looks like you still need that lung sucker after all," richie laughed.

"shit i need goddamn cpr at this point," eddie replied, huffing loudly.

"oh i'm certified in mouth-to-mouth ed's, just ask your mom," richie smiled, out of breath as well.

"i would totally beat the shit out of you," eddie started,"but i think i might pass out."

"fair enough," richie said," let's go grab some water and then get going."

eddie agreed and followed him inside.

xxx

they headed back outside after they got some water and richie stuffed some nerds in his massive cargo pockets. he locked up after them and they headed off in no particular direction.

"so where should we head then?" eddie asked.

"wherever the wind takes us eduardo," richie smiled, standing up and pedaling as fast as he could,

"i'll race you to wherever the hell that is," eddie yelled, trying to catch up to richie.