cynosure [it characters]

june 8th, 1989 [9]

richie and eddie continued to talk amongst themselves in richie's cabin. talking escalated into another one of eddie's games, but this time, richie decided to pick. "let's play never have i ever," he smiled, fully aware of the game.

eddie knit his eyebrows. "how do you play?" he asked shortly, looking intently at the other boy. richie's grin grew.

"simple, eddie spaghetti," he started, standing up from his bed. "you hold up five fingers, like this," he further demonstrated. "then you say never have i ever, and follow that up with something you have never done. if another person in the party has done that, they put a finger down."

eddie frowned. "this doesn't seem like a fun game for two people." richie hushed him quickly and gestured for him to stand up, to which he followed. 

"but it truly is, eds, sincerely. the first person with all their fingers down loses, and they have to pay a price." he smiled cockily, "that the other person chooses, of course."

the small boy furrowed his eyebrows once again. "so the person who has done the most stuff loses?" richie nodded. eddie shrugged lightly, holding up one hand. "you go first," he motioned to richie. the two sat down on stan's bed, across from each other with their legs crossed.

richie held up his hand, too. "never have i ever..." he paused, trying to think of something embarrassing eddie would've been through. "never have i ever kissed my mom on the lips!" he exclaimed, and as disgusting as it sounded, eddie sighed and put down his pinkie finger.

"it was a goodnight kiss when i was five, okay? nothing like you are thinking, mister," eddie stuck his tongue out at richie, who began to chuckle. "shut up, dipstick!" he slapped richie's thigh with his free hand.

that only made richie laugh more. "okay, my turn. never have i ever," he thought for a moment, and then he realized there was no way he couldn't admit to something that wasn't embarrassing, "never have i ever kissed someone." he was sure richie would put his finger down, and he did.

eddie felt slightly at unease at the thought of richie kissing someone. it was weird. he cleared his throat after he found himself thinking too much. "i-uh, who...did you kiss?" he chuckled nervously. richie shrugged.

"some girl during this game of spin the bottle. but i've kissed others, too," he winked lightly. eddie felt saddened, somehow. he just couldn't put his finger on it. "i would ask you why you haven't kissed anyone, but i can most certainly see-"

"i don't like this game," eddie cut him off, dropping his hand. he knew he shouldn't have admitted something like that. richie was going to make fun of him for the rest of his life. but the boy with glasses noticed the sadness in his voice.

he reached over and set his hand on top of eddie's. "hey, you okay, eds?" he asked lightly. he wasn't one to feel sympathetic towards another, but this was eddie, his seemingly extremely fragile best friend. eddie shrugged lightly.

"i guess. i'm just embarrassed because you are like a chick magnet and i can't even get one girl to look at me-"

"now don't you go on sayin' things like that, eds. you don't need a girl to make you feel happy or complete, you have me!" their hands were now grasping each other softly. richie began rubbing his thumb along the back of eddie's hand.

the smaller boy's heart skipped a few beats. "and you have stan, and bill, and mike, even. you have all of us, and you don't have room for a damned prep that will break your heart." the two sat in silence after that, eddie listening intently to his heartbeat.

he looked up after awhile, noticing richie's eyes already on him. he pressed his lips together tightly, richie chewing at his bottom lip. suddenly, though, there was this force. this ultimate force was pushing eddie forward. his face got closer to richie's, and richie didn't lean back, but the force had gotten him, too, as he was leaning forward.

and it seemed almost a matter of time until their lips could touch, but hell, eddie doesn't live in no fairy tale or story book. instead, the door swung open. "eddie kaspbrak?" a woman had asked with a panicked tone.

the two boys flew apart, along with their hands, as eddie stood up and faced the unknown woman. "you have a call from your mother, you must come back to the main building and answer," she said. she was sopping wet, meaning she hadn't taken an umbrella, meaning eddie would also become sopping wet.

eddie looked back at richie, who was rubbing the back of his neck nervously and chewing the inside of his cheek. the woman and eddie then left as fast as the girl had showed up. richie sat in silence alone, his cheeks still red from what was about to happen.

he thought for a moment, playing over the scene in his head. he gasped silently.

"holy shit," he muttered, "what the fuck were we doing?"