𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐅𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐊𝐄

3

It was the third week of classes when Richie began to slowly break down. He was doing good in all his classes so far and having a grand ol' time at the Radio Station. What Richie was failing to do was push away his growing feelings for Eddie.

Just this morning, around 4 AM, he'd woken up sweaty and disoriented, with an unpleasant but familiar sticky wetness in his boxers. He was just grateful Stan didn't wake up, for Richie was known to be a regular sleep talker.

Now, he was walking from his third class and back to his dorms, since it was a Tuesday, he didn't have to worry about coming back outside. He had his clunky Sony headphones on, drowning out his current situation with a song from Radiohead.

He loves working at the radio station, but he needed to cool off from this strange build up of emotions. He could just go back to his room and sulk in the sheer beauty that was Eddie. It wasn't until he was touched on the shoulder that he slipped back into reality.

He swerved around, justs to see a flash of blonde hair. His heart was malfunctioning at the mere sight of the color, thinking it was Eddie. But when he settled on the shoulder-tappers face, it wasn't. It was someone he didn't know.

"Hey, Richie," The shoulder-tapper's voice was boyish, for lack of a better term. He waved as if he was just passing by, but that didn't seem to be the case. He looked like he wanted to talk since he had stopped Richie from walking.

Richie blinked, still not recognizing who the hell this kid was.

He had very light hazel eyes and pale skin. He was tall enough to look Richie straight in the eyes. His hair was ashy dirty-blonde color. It was darker than Eddie's own hair, but it seemed to be natural since his eyebrows matched. He had a look on his face as if Richie should know who he was, but still, even through close observation, Richie came up short.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Richie slowly took off his headset as the boy laughed, for some reason. Maybe it was because the blonde was nervous. Or maybe he was trying to make up for Richie's awkwardness. Richie couldn't quite pin it.

"I'm in Visual Arts with you. I sit way in the front, so you probably don't know me," Richie recalls looking down there a few times, mindlessly thinking about Eddie because he would see Blonde hair. That must be him.

The boy held out his hand, looking at Richie with an almost starstruck gaze.

"My name's Daniel," He held out a pale hand that Richie took, his hand was not that smaller than his own. His hand wasn't cold, but it wasn't warm either.

"I just wanted to tell you how much I love Trippy Trio. You guys rock," Daniel shyly smiled at Richie with the same look he had on earlier. Realization hit Richie like a truck, piecing together why this Daniel kid wanted to talk. Not only was he Richie's classmate, but he was also one of their listeners.

"Oh, wow! Thanks, Daniel. You like our music, huh?" Richie smirked back, pulling his messenger bag up higher on his shoulder. Daniel shifted his feet before coyly nodding.

"I listen to you nearly every time you guys are on air," He admitted, rolling his eyes at himself, Richie presumed. It shouldn't have, but it shocked Richie for some reason. Not only did Daniel like the show, but he also tuned in every day they aired. Richie must've looked surprised, his mouth ajar and his eyes wider than before. Daniel chuckled a bit, gaining Richie's attention once again.

"I know it sounds weird since technically we just met, but I actually wanted to ask you something," Daniel's boyish tone reminded Richie, in a way, of Bill. It was soft enough not to be crazy masculine but masculine enough to not seem feminine.