TAME. ⌲ reddie

seven 〰 just a little more

a nice, long update that is actually updated on time for once (ikr that's so rare)

authors note at the bottom :)

Eddie was in the nurse's room till last period, being in too much pain to go back to class. They tried to notify his mom of the issue so she could come and pick the fragile boy up, but the electricity in the building had been shut down for the day, due to the non-cooperative autumn rain that passed a few days ago. One of the nurses asked Eddie if he had a car, since he was a senior and allowed to drive. However, he simply shook his head no, too embarrassed to add on to the response and tell them why; his mother was a helicopter parent, too possessive of her son to let him drive all by himself. Heck, she was afraid to let him go on a bike ride alone.

Besides, Eddie had no interest in driving home today. His limbs ached too much, and the pain in his broken arm was increasing to an unbearable extent. Eddie squeezed his eyes shut and grabbed for his inhaler, taking a few puffs out of it.

"N-Nurse?"

"Yes, Eddie?"

"Do you have any painkillers?" The nurse rose from her desk and went over to one of the cabinets, sighing. She opened all the drawers before taking out a decent-sized cylindrical bottle and opened the lid. She ushered out two pills and gave them to Eddie, along with a glass of water. He gulped them down.

"Thank you." In about ten minutes, give or take, the pain in Eddie's arm began receding, making him a bit more relaxed. He was exhausted from bearing all that distress.

He stared at the ceiling, thinking whether he did the right thing by agreeing to go with Richie.

He definitely viewed the boy in a more different way now. He didn't possess as much hatred towards the older boy as he used to, yet he still couldn't trust him completely.

Eddie felt an unknown feeling of safety thinking about what Richie had done for him. No one had ever stuck up for him that way, and he admired that Richie had done that.

But then all the bad memories of him came back flooding to him and Eddie groaned, stuffing his face in his hands, careful to avoid the areas with cuts.

And what was that he had done earlier? Smiled at him? He hadn't smiled at the boy since kindergarten! And that was only because he was forced to!

His head hurt from thinking about everything he did wrong and he tried to divert his thoughts. They moved on from Richie, but they bought back a horrible memory.

The memory of why Eddie was afraid of the woods.

***

"Come on, Eddie! Catch me if you can!" Under  Sonia's supervision, Emmy and Eddie were playing outside. She was double-tasking, knitting while watching her kids run around and get fresh air. 

"Oh I'm gonna get you!" Eddie was ten and Emmy was eight; it was the last of his playful childhood years, the limited time before he viewed the games simply as bittersweet childhood memories.

Emmy squeaked as Eddie reached for her hair, and let out a giggle when he missed.

"Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. You can't get me!" Emmy stuck her tongue out and though it took a while, and many breaths from his inhaler, Eddie reached his sister. He gently tackled her to the ground.