A small smile made it's way onto the brunette boy's face, his cheeks lighting up as the nerves began to hit him hard.
"Oh, come on, Spaghetti Man!" Richie insisted feverishly, lacing his fingers securely through Eddie's and tugging him closer towards the edge. God, Eddie did not want to do this, but he also didn't want to be teased for all eternity about how he was too much of a girl to jump off of a small cliff. It was nothing like the cliff face Beverly had so effortlessly jumped from, it even had a pretty waterfall so Eddie really had nothing to be afraid of.
Except Richie.
Sure, he wasn't scared that Richie was going to hurt him or anything, but what if Eddie jumped off wrong and Richie wasn't happy with it? Or if Eddie hurt himself and Richie thought it was a joke and didn't come to his aid, leaving Eddie to die a slow, gruesome death?
These were all just 'what if's?' and would probably never happen, but Eddie thought about them more often than not and lived his life in constant fear.
Okay maybe that was a bit extreme but it's how he felt.
"If you don't go in, then... Then I'll tickle you!" He threatened, knowing how sensitive Eddie's sides were. This made the younger boy pale, immediately shaking his head and stepping in front of Richie, tugging him closer to the edge.
It was only around a 5 metre drop, but he was still terrified. "I'll only go if you hold my hand... Y'know, to do it together." He laughed nervously.
Instead of waiting, Richie smirked, leaning forward to gently peck Eddie's cheek before whispering, "No homo."
He leaped off of the edge, pulling a screaming Eddie alongside him. They were so close to the water's surface and Eddie actually didn't mind the feeling of going down so quickly with the wind brushing up against him, halting the intense heat of the Derry Summer day for a moment.
Within a few seconds, Eddie could feel his legs being submerged underwater, and then-
"Eddie, baby! Wake up, it's time for school, sweetie!"
Eddie groaned quietly and sat up, lifting his hands to rub the sleep out from the corners of his eyes, covering his mouth with his fist as he yawned. "Mm.. What the fuck..?" He mumbled to himself, briefly going over what had happened in his dream.
That was probably the worst so far. It wasn't scary, but going in public water? Where anything could be?! There could be fish, shit, remnants, dead animals, people! God, Eddie didn't even want to think of the possibilities. Being the germaphobe and severe hypochondriac he was, Eddie as sure he'd get sick, just from the dream.
For about a month now, Eddie had been dreaming about Richie. On one or two occasions, he'd woken up with a... Problem, but every other scenario was just Richie urging Eddie to do something with him, or them just cuddling. Eddie didn't know how to feel, and it was suffocating having to keep this between him and Bill (because he just couldn't keep it in). He wanted to tell Richie, but he couldn't. He'd probably get laughed at, but it was coming a little too much and he didn't know how to feel.
With that thought in mind, Eddie moved his thin, bare legs over the side of his bed and stood up shakily, a few shivers going through his lanky body after pins and needles grew in his feet, but he shook it off and went over to his wardrobe to get changed and ready for school.
He couldn't wait to tell Bill about this one.
--
"Bye mom, love you." Eddie said quickly, offering his mother a wave and turning to trot down the stairs of his veranda towards Richie who was waiting on the pathway for Eddie who was clutching and playing with the straps of his backpack nervously.
