Streddie: All I Need Is To Fix This Thing

Epilogue

Epilogue: age 18

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Richie still remembered the night he spent with Stan and Eddie. His life had taken a turn for the better when Bev had forced him to come out of his house and face his best friends. Richie and Stan had shared their first kiss at Richie's sixteenth birthday, Eddie's kiss following just moments after. He had felt drunk on the love he was receiving from not only Eddie and Stan, but also his friends, Bill, and his family. He couldn't believe that his life had turned out this way. Today was moving day, though, and he didn't have time to reminisce. His parents, his and Bill's parents, waved goodbye to him as they stepped into the car. Bill had been accepted into NYU, Bev, Mike, and Ben following after him. Richie had decided that New York wasn't  for him, and his neat freak and germaphobe boyfriends had miraculously agreed, although it wasn't really miraculous to them, only to him. He still couldn't believe they had chosen to be with him, but he loved them with all of his heart and knew that they did too.

Richie walked up the sidewalk that leads to the dorms. They had managed to find a building with three-person dorms and requested to be roomed together. The person behind the counter had sent them a knowing look and reminded them of the noise rules for their building. Richie had blushed beet red and stuttered out a thank you while Stan laughed and pushed him along towards the elevator. When Richie entered the building he smiled at the man behind the desk and stepped into the elevator, selecting the third floor while listening to the soft music filling the air. The elevator doors opened and he stepped into the hallway that led to his dorm, happiness bubbling up in his chest. The door to their room was open, sunlight filtering out and into the hallway. Their window was opened letting in a warm breeze, the air having yet to cool for the fall. He heard the sound of pop music coming from their room and smiled, knowing that Eddie was forcing Stan to listen to his music again. He stepped into the door and saw Eddie and Stan sitting on the floor, puzzled by the IKEA furniture that they had shipped to their dorm. Neither had noticed him yet and he tackled them to the ground while laughing, Stan yelping in surprise while Eddie laughed with him. Stan and Eddie were so happy to have their Richie back, and he had improved so much since the day they found out about his parents. After two years of fostering Richie, the Denbroughs had adopted him, officially rendering him a Denbrough-Tozier. Stan and Eddie remembered how happy Richie had been that day, just a couple of weeks away from his sixteenth birthday when the three of them would become an official couple. Richie had told them of his plan to go to UCLA for college and Eddie and Stan told him that it was a good thing UCLA had many majors because they were going with him.

Richie smiled as he lay with his legs in Eddie's lap and his head in Stan's while Stan used one hand to stroke Richie's hair, and one hand to help Eddie figure out how the fuck to put together this furniture. He couldn't help but imagine how the rest of their life would play out, and he was just so overjoyed that he even had the chance to be with the two boys sitting right beneath him. "Richie, you're smiling like a dope, what are you thinking about." Richie looked up at Stan with blushing cheeks and a smile as wide as the grand canyon. "Just you and Eddie, the usual." Stan smiled back at him and Richie caught Eddie's lips quirk up even though he was fully immersed in putting together their coffee table. They sat on that floor for hours until Eddie and Stan finally managed to connect the legs to the table base. "It really took you guys three hours to put together a table?" Eddie looked down at his incredulous face, his beginning to burn a bright red. "Well, I certainly didn't come to UCLA for engineering. I've never done this in my life!" Richie smiled at him before leaning forwards and pinching Eddie's cheek. "You're too cute!" Behind him he heard Stan laughing as Eddie halfheartedly slapped his hand away. "'M not cute!" Richie met Stan's eyes in a knowing glance as they both laughed. Richie hauled himself off the floor and pulled himself into his own bed. Stan and Eddie scrambled to join him after a moment and Richie huffed out a breath as they collapsed on top of him. "I'm a weak man." They both smiled down at him as they shifted around to find a comfortable spot, although that was nearly impossible in the dorm bed. Richie closed his eyes as he heard Eddie's breathing settle, and felt Stan's flank rise and fall evenly with each breath. He remembered hearing someone whisper before his mind was encased in the cotton escape of sleep. "I love you." Richie smiled and whispered back, "I love you more."

If they woke up tomorrow with sore backs and necks from sleeping piled together, well, nobody said anything, and none of them would trade it for the world.