eddie woke up late the next morning. he blinked a few times, scanning the unfamiliar room and trying to shake the pounding sensation from his head. his attention focused on weight shifting next to him, and his eyes wandered upon blurred skin. eddie shut his eyes tightly, trying to lose the haze in his vision.
it took a moment, but soon he was seeing clearly and could make out more than just a few vague black spots. eddie realized that he was looking at a forearm, covered in red and black sticker-like tattoos. eddie shut his eyes once again, feeling confused. he could've sworn that he was with beverly.
eddie thought back on the night prior, racking his brain trying to remember whose bed he was in.
the realization seemed to hit him like a freight train.
the cigarette, the fight, the xanax. richie.
"richie?" eddie whispered, turning onto his side and finding himself face to face with richie.
richie had changed his clothes, now wearing checkered pajama pants and a t-shirt for a band that eddie definitely wouldn't have been allowed to listen to. eddie didn't know that richie had tattoos. the night before he was wearing a sweater, his arms covered.
eddie repeated himself, calling out richie's name, gently, deciding to give him a small shake. richie didn't wake, just snored softly and scrunched his nose at the sudden movement.
eddie half-smiled, grabbing richie's glasses from off of his face and folding the temples in on each other, before turning to set them onto the bedside table.
as eddie sat up in the bed, he looked around for his phone. he soon stood, feeling around in his discarded jean pockets until he found the device.
he listened for a moment before opening richies bedroom door, leaving it barely ajar and walking across the small living area and to the balcony.
he clicked his phone on, seeing that he had a few missed messages, all from beverly.
from bevvy 💌
hi. i'd like to apologize. please call me.
from bevvy 💌
i know you're mad but i'm really worried.
from bevvy 💌
just call me soon please.
from bevvy 💌
just spoke to richie, he said you're sleeping already and that he'd have you call me tomorrow when you're awake. i'm sorry for freaking out on you. just call when you see these okay? i love you, bear.
eddie sighed, clicking to her contact and calling, bringing the phone to his ear.
"eddie. thank fuck, dude. i was freaking out." bev picked up after one ring.
"have you been waiting up for me, ms. marsh?" eddie smiled, hating the tension that was between them.
"no, but i might as well have been. i slept a bit, but honestly stan and i were both on mikes couch and kept pushing each other off, so it could've been a better night for me."
"why didn't you go home? why didn't he come home?" eddie questioned, hoping that he wasn't the reason that stan stayed away.
"mike got a little carried away taking shots last night, and stan was worried that i wouldn't be okay alone after our argument, so he insisted that he stay and babysit. but i think that he's a little bit into mike and knows that mike is also a little bit into him and was scared to be alone with him." eddie liked that bev was gossiping. it meant that things were going to be okay.
