Breathe ⭐️ Reddie

15

"Richie, wake up," a voice called gently.

Richie groaned and tried to cover his head, until he realized he couldn't move one of his arms. Confused, Richie opened his eyes and looked to where his arm was and saw Eddie laying on his side, awake.

"Come on, we gotta start training," Eddie said, sitting up.

"Noooo," Richie whined dramatically, pulling Eddie to lay back down, "I just wanna stay here forever."

Eddie giggled but pushed Richie's arm off of him. Although he was shorter, he was a lot stronger from years of training.

"Go back to your room and change into something to work out in. There should be clothes there already," Eddie told him, standing up and going to his own closet.

Richie sighed and stood up, dragging his feet on the ground on his way to the door. "Can't believe you're kicking me out, Eds."

Eddie laughed and rolled his eyes. "It's only for 20 minutes, Richie. You'll live, I promise."

"What if someone comes after me?"

"Your room is like five doors down. If anything happens I'll hear it and help you. Now go on, we have a schedule," Eddie said, sounding more serious.

Richie nodded and opened the door, only to jump backwards in shock. A man stood at the door, just as tall as Richie with a confused expression on his face.

"Richie? Are you alright?" Eddie asked, seeing Richie on the ground. He looked up at the door and saw the man standing there. "Oh, hey dad."

"Good morning, Eddie. I don't want to be 'that dad,'" he said holding up finger quotations, "but who is this?"

Eddie held his hand out to Richie and tugged him up. "This is Richie, the new member. Richie, this is my dad, Frank."

"Nice to meet you, Richie," Frank said, holding his hand out to shake Richie's hand.

Richie eyed it skeptically. Eddie had mentioned most adults hadn't wanted him to join, so he wasn't sure he wanted to trust Frank, even though he seemed kind. Richie looked over to Eddie for reassurance, and when he saw Eddie nod, he shook Frank's hand.

"Nice to meet you, sir," he said quietly.

"I know a lot of people have said they don't want you here, but the majority of the superiors voted you in, Richie. You have nothing to be scared of," Frank said with a smile.

Richie returned Frank's smile with a small one of his own, before walking toward the door. "I'm going to go get dressed. Where're we meeting?" he asked.

"I'll come get you in ten minutes or so for breakfast. Is that okay?"

Richie nodded before leaving, closing the door gently behind him.

Once he had left, Frank sat down on Eddie's bed, an eyebrow raised. "He seems quiet."

Eddie scoffed. "Nah, he's just tired. Usually he can't seem to shut up and I've only known him for two days."

"Ah. And are you going to tell me why he was in your room this early in the morning?" Frank asked.

Eddie felt his stomach drop. He wasn't out to his father, and he didn't think he'd judge him, but didn't want to take the chance. So, he stayed quiet, his face red.

"Eddie?"

"He spent the night last night," Eddie mumbled.

Frank smiled at him. "Eddie, it's okay to tell me that you like him. I've heard people say you're gay, and it doesn't change how I look at you. I love you for who you are." (a/n this is pretty much the same thing my grandma said when I came out to her)

Eddie let out a breath of relief. "I didn't think you would, but I just didn't think it was a chance to take. Because, you know, we aren't supposed to date here or anything."

"There's no rule against it."

"Well I know that, but it's a distraction. I don't even know if I like him, anyway. I mean, he's nice and all that, and he's a good kisser..." Eddie stopped talking, eyes wide, when he realized what he said.

To his surprise, Frank started laughing. "You don't know if you like him but you kissed him? Eddie, you seem to like him and he did stay here last night didn't he?"

"I didn't want him to be alone. It was his first night here," Eddie muttered.

"Son, you can date here if you want. You know that, and the only rule is you can't let anyone get in the way of your work. It's alright to be afraid, but regardless of the rule that work comes first, I don't want you to ever choose it over what your heart tells you. Okay?"

Eddie hummed and nodded. He knew he'd always choose his work first; he grew up a Hive member and knew that what he was doing had meaning. There was no way he'd let anyone get in the way.

Richie was a distraction, and Eddie accidentally fell into the trap. Eddie looked down at his lap, realizing he may have accidentally led Richie on. There's no way they could be together. A tight knot formed in Eddie's gut at the thought.

"Eddie?"

"Hm?" Eddie looked up at Frank, who was eyeing him with a suspicious expression.

"Trust me. You don't want to live your life only focused on work. You'll lose everything, okay? It's happened to a lot of people here. Please, son. Don't let your fear of disappointing the superiors overshadow how much you care about other people."

Frank left as soon as Eddie nodded. Eddie knew he was screwed. Richie was amazing and he really did like him. Richie wasn't like the emotionless adults within the Hive who only ever focused on work and completing missions. He was special, and made Eddie happier than he had been his whole life. Yet, the Hive had been there for Eddie his whole life.

He laid back on his bed and looked at the clock on his nightstand.

7:43 am.

He had a few more minutes before he had to get Richie, and suddenly hated that he had to spend time with him. It would just be harder when he'd have to tell him they couldn't be together. Richie didn't deserve that. Eddie didn't deserve to be treated like he had been for his whole life.

"Fuck," Eddie hissed, slamming his face into his pillow.