.: I Wish, I Wish, I Wish ~:||:~ Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier :.

02

The nightmares came that night. 

They always chased Eddie when he just thought he had escaped. They chased him when he was too close to being happy. 

The day had been amazing, which was an extreme understatement. They all took turns jumping off the cliff, Bev first, like usual. Bill jumped down right after as to not disappoint his girlfriend. Next went Ben, who insisted it was just to get it over with, but Eddie knew it was because he wanted to impress Bev. He still wasn't quite over the girl. After Ben went Richie, but not without a dramatic scream that nearly made Eddie's heart stop. He was going to kill him later for that, accidents could happen. Especially on a cliff this tall, he thought anxiously as he watched Stan disappear over the edge beside Mike. 

Eddie took a deep breath, and remembered the first time that he had been invited to jump off the edge with all of them. He had been ten, and he viewed it as a sort of 'entering his manhood' sort of situation. These boys still saw him as a kid and if he didn't do this he was going to be a kid forever. 

That was the day that Richie became his best friend. Eddie had been sitting further away from Ben and Stan, who, at the time, were the only other two people in the Losers Club. 

Eddie watched the two boys make the jump, laughing the whole way down. Richie stood by the edge, grinning as there was a loud splash, indicating they had made their mark. He glanced back at Eddie, who was standing further back, half-wishing that they would all just jump and forget he had ever been there. 

Eddie's eyes met Richie's, and he knew he was going to be jumping off of that cliff. Richie's grin lost some of it's edge, softening as he backtracked. 

"Hey. You coming?" The taller boy gestured to the drop, and the second Eddie peered over, his face whitened. If his mother knew what he was doing she would flip her shit, he was 100% sure of that. He looked back up at Richie with big eyes. 

Ten year old Eddie was absolutely positive of two things in that moment - 

One, there was no way in hell that he was going to jump off of that ledge. 

Two, there was no way in hell Richie Tozier was going to let him chicken out. 

The small child was surprised when Richie held out a hand. He had big hands, Eddie noticed. His fingers were long and skinny, just like the rest of him. Sometimes Eddie felt like Richie was too skinny, but he had never really thought to wonder why. 

"Together?" Richie's smile made Eddie's entire face slack, jaw dropping. 

That was the day that Eddie Kaspbrak fell a little in love with the boy he called his best friend. Together, hand in hands, they had jumped, Eddie screaming bloody murder the whole way and Richie laughing like a maniac. 

"Yes, Eds, that's the way, just scream, keep yellin -" 

That was also the first time he ever called him 'Eds'. 

Eddie was shaking like a leaf when he hit the water, and Richie had immediately gone to his aid without even noticing what he was doing to poor Eddie. 

The boy had just barely reached double digits in his age, he didn't even know what love was, let alone what you were supposed to do when you were in it. 

After all, boys weren't supposed to love boys, were they? 

So, nearly four years later, Eddie found himself in the same position he had been in the first time. The only difference was, there was no Richie to hold his hand. Richie held his hand every time, until their very last visit, but that didn't count. Eddie had been pushed that time.