Survive the Night [reddie]

1

1993, Derry, Maine

Jump jump
You should know, you should know that ah
Kris Kross is not having anything today
As we stand there totally krossed out
We commence to make you-

Eddie jumped in surprise with a sharp intake of air at the sudden pressure slammed against his shoulders, eyes wide and expression panic stricken.
"Eds!"
"Richie!" Eddie snapped, groaning as he slowly relaxed again, reaching down to fiddle with the sleeves of his pastel yellow sweater.  Richie laughed playfully, walking backwards with his skinny hands gliding along the straps of his backpack as he came up beside Eddie after scaring him. His denim jacket allowed the collar, hem and buttons of a red flannel to peek out from underneath, accompanied by one of his many guns n roses shirts and black ripped jeans.
"Welcome back to hell," he grinned with a charismatic 'game-show host' voice, his glasses rising slightly on his cheeks.

Eddie rolled his eyes but couldn't help the slightest smirk tugging at his lips.
"But hey where were you yesterday? Mommy didn't let you come pway with the big kids again?" Richie pouted, pinching Eddie's cheek teasingly. Eddie quickly scowled and swatted his hand away.
"At least my mom cares about what I'm doing and where I'm going!" Eddie spoke in a quick rabble. "Instead of just- letting me go out and contracting herpes or some nasty shit from smoking somebody else's joint," he muttered bitterly, squinting accusingly.
Richie raised his brows at Eddie expectantly, still walking backwards as they slowly approached the entrance of Derry High School.
"They're cuban cigars, and I don't share. People have to buy their own shit they're mine." He huffed, spinning around so he could be facing forward to jog up the concrete stairs.
"I'm just saying, Rich-" Eddie continued to defend before Richie cut him off, yanking on his bag and causing him to yelp slightly in surprise and stumble to a halt. "What?"
"You shoulda' been there yesterday." Richie murmured, glancing out across the front of the school.

Eddie cocked a brow and opened his mouth to speak as he followed Richie's gaze before spotting what he had spied. Short, shiny auburn curls. Dark circular sunglasses. A white striped top paired with cobalt blue overalls, the denim fraying at the knees. A heavy pair of black Doc Martens with red glaze, making them glow with the same warmth as her hair. Beverly Marsh had a cassette walkman in one hand and a strap of her school bag in the other, pink gum visible every so often as she part her delicate lips to blow another bubble.
Eddie furrowed his brows, blinking a few times and glancing between Richie and Beverly.
"Not you too." He murmured, a tone of disgust evident in his voice.
"What? No." Richie scoffed, instantly snapping back to face Eddie. "Not me."

"Hey guys," A chipper voice called from behind them, both Eddie and Richie glancing back.
"Him." Richie murmured. Bill's jeans were ripped too, the soles of his ratty converse high tops peeling away from the rest of the shoe each time he took another step. Besides those two aspects, the rest of his outfit was neat and collected, the watch he had just received for his birthday glimmering on his wrist, as Bill was the first of his friends to turn 17, January 4th to be exact.
"Big Bill," Richie grinned, slapping their hands together before fist bumping in a simple handshake.
"Rich, Eds, where were you yesterday?" Bill chuckled a little, stepping back and shoving his hands in his pockets.
"10 inches deep in your mo-" Richie began proudly but Eddie didn't let him finish, a glare of disgust already painted onto his features.
"Wasn't allowed out. Some dick left his magazines at my house and my mom found them." Eddie clarified with a slight growl, ignoring Richie's disappointment at being shut down and giving him an 'I know it was you and you know it was you' glare.

Richie gave Eddie a guilty shrug before shooting a hand out and ruffling Eddie's hair playfully, Eddie instantly shouting in horror and slapping his hands away. Richie burst into laughter and sprinted away, Eddie left fuming as he raked a hand back through his hair to push it back into place, speed-walking after him aggressively. "Keep your lice-infested mitts out of my hair! God knows where those hands have been!"
"YOUR MOM'S UNDERWEAR- !" Richie called with a hysterical laugh as he continued running.
Bill chuckled a little, still able to hear Eddie's gradually fading shouts of 'immature', 'unoriginal' and 'dickhead', shaking his head at the two before walking over to where Beverly was, seated on a wooden bench with headphones over her ears, head tilted back to the sky as she blew another bubble. It was as if she'd been stripped straight from an iconic movie scene playing in slow motion, the sun glowing on her face and illuminating the tiny freckles speckling her cheeks.

He subconsciously smiled a little and took a seat beside her, Bev noticing his presence and glancing up, smiling a little too when she saw him.
"Hey," she grinned, reaching up and carefully removing the muffs from over her ears, Kris Kross' 'Jump' echoing quietly from the tiny speakers.
"Hey," Bill smiled in return, resting his side against the back of the bench, his elbow on the top with his cheek pressed to the palm of his hand. "First day back, h-how're you feeling?" Bill asked casually. Beverly's smile faulted hearing his stutter, knowing that he'd been going so well working with the private speech therapist recently. It must be her making him do that.
"Honestly, stoked," she replied sarcastically with a contagious smile, lifting the sunglasses up to rest atop her head. "You?"
"I'd rather skip ahead t-to summer already, if I'm honest," he replied with a nonchalant shrug, earning a clarion melodic giggle from Beverly, Bill's heart fluttering at the sound. The school bell rang out from the building behind them and Bill sighed quietly. He shifted to stand up before Beverly grabbed his forearm, gazing at him and pressing her lips into a thin line.
"What did you think of yesterday?" She spoke softly, tilting her head a little, ignoring the students now filing into the school building.

Bill's cheeks flushed and he chewed on the inside of his cheek a little. "W-w-which part?"
Beverly smiled a little, her voice lowering.
"The end," she clarified.
"I- I'd want to do that again some time, if it's o-okay with you?" He spoke quietly, standing and pulling Beverly up with him. She paused, gazing up at him with her piercing crystal eyes before nodding subtly.
"I think I'd like that," she breathed, taking another moment to simply admire him before stepping backwards. "I'll see you at recess," were her last words before she released her grip on his arm and disappeared into the sea of students. 

Bill watched her auburn locks until they were lost amongst the crowd, his smile still left dancing on his lips as he sighed out in exasperation and followed to get to his first period class.

Ben stood near the school steps, catching Bill turn and make his way to class contently. He tugged at the hem of his shirt anxiously, a well of pity swelling in his stomach. What he would give to be the one seated by Beverly asking what she thought of the last day they spent together, what he would give.

Bill walked through the school hallways with his hands dangling from his pockets by his thumbs, nearly at his class when he saw two familiar faces by the lockers.
Bill smiled and made his way over, Eddie back again with an asthma inhaler in one hand and his school books in the other, and Stan standing beside him. Bill was about to bet himself ten-trillion bucks they were bitching about Richie.

"I'd wish he'd stop with those stupid Mom jokes! It got old back in middle school, he thinks he's sooo funny but- Bill!" Eddie ranted to Stan before catching Bill in his gaze. Bill grinned and came up beside Stan, giving him a small fist bump.
"I was just being told yet another exquisite story about-" Stan began to express as if he was a nature documenter examining animals in their natural habitat.
"Richie, I f-figured," Bill snickered. "Eddie, Mr Torrance might actually kill us if we're late again," Eddie nodded in agreement and they bid Stan goodbye, starting back down the hallway in a comfortable silence until Bill fell upon a topic.

"So your Mom wouldn't let you do anything over Summer holidays, and now she's controlling your m-mid-winter too?" Bill frowned down at Eddie, the two of them walking through the hallway towards their first class together.
"I mean, to be fair, we are still very young, there isn't much we can do, and it's always been this way and she isn't one to break a habit, and what do people even do in mid-winter anyway right? It's not exactly party weather," Eddie rambled on sheepishly, talking so quickly Bill almost struggled to process it all.
"Yeah I guess, but don't you feel... trapped? All she does is coop you up i-inside, that can't be healthy," Bill furrowed his brows, the two of them entering the classroom.

Eddie hesitated a moment, pressing his lips into a thin line and looking down at his shoes.
"She's doing it because she cares about me," he finalised. Bill opened his mouth to interject but Eddie cut him off. "She doesn't want me to get hurt, she doesn't want to lose someone else, I get it." He nodded slowly.
Bill closed his mouth, sighing through his nose and nodding his head in respect for Eddie's final judgement, taking a seat beside him at their desks and preparing for class to commence. He'd find a way to get Eddie out of that house, even if it was just for a week, whether Sonia liked it or not.