Demon 🔥 Reddie

12

Richie put his phone on silent and sat next to Eddie, who was picking at his nails nervously.

"Are you okay?" he asked, to which Eddie shook his head.

"I should get going," Eddie said quietly, standing up and walking toward the window.

Richie leapt up and ran in front of the window, nearly tripping on the way over. "You can't leave! You have nowhere to go!" he exclaimed, worried for Eddie who rolled his eyes.

"I'm a demon, Richie. I can take care of myself," Eddie said with a scoff, easily moving Richie out of the way.

"If you can take care of yourself why did you even come here?" Richie argued, glaring at the smaller boy who stopped in his tracks. "Come on, you can stay here. My parents never come into my room and it'll be safer. I'm not going to school tomorrow so we can go see if the author of the book is still alive."

Eddie turned around warily. He didn't trust anyone, since Sonia had been the only person in his life and he hated her. Yet, Richie seemed so serious about keeping Eddie safe and making sure he wasn't alone on the streets.

A loud, disgusting squelching sound filled the room. Richie realized the sound was coming from Eddie and he began to panic, until Eddie's wings were quite literally sucked into his back. He crossed the room and sat on Richie's bed, leaning on the wall the bed was rested against.

"Fine," Eddie mumbled. "Do you have extra blankets that I can make into a bed?"

"You can take my bed," Richie said, walking to his closet and grabbing a few extra pillows for the bed he began to make on the ground.

"That's not fair!" Eddie snapped, jumping onto the ground and sitting in the space that Richie was trying to make a bed in. "I'm not taking your space."

"You're taking up the space I'm trying to make my bed it," Richie deadpanned, dropping the pillows and blankets on top of Eddie who didn't move.

Instead, Eddie laid down on the ground with the blankets and pillows still covering him. Richie could see his eyes and his smug smirk. Rolling his eyes, Richie walked to his dresser and grabbed a sweatshirt and tossed it to Eddie.

"It'll keep you warm since my room isn't
ninety degrees like yours is," Richie said, lying on his bed. "If you get too cold let me know."

Eddie nodded and put the sweatshirt on over his shirt and shorts, before curling into the blanket Richie gave him. It was old and slightly tattered, making it even colder. The room made Eddie shiver more once Richie turned off the light and fell asleep.

He knew that Richie said to wake him if he was too cold, but Eddie didn't feel right bothering the person who offered him shelter. Eddie continued to shiver, his teeth clacking together as he pulled the blanket tighter around himself. It couldn't have been cooler than seventy degrees in the room, but to Eddie, it felt like he was living in the Arctic.

Eddie continued to shiver, scooting toward Richie's bed to lean against it. He pushed his knees to his chest, breathing shakily and trying to find more warmth. It wouldn't kill him to be a little cold, but it was harder to cope with. Full demons had the ability to change their body temperature when it was cooler, but that was a gift Eddie lacked since he was part human.

About thirty minutes after the light went off, as Eddie shivered on the ground, he felt hands grab under his arms. He didn't react at first, letting himself be tugged upwards, not really processing the situation. Once he was under a different blanket and was much warmer, he saw Richie's huge eyes looking at him.

"I told you to wake me up if you were cold," Richie whispered, pushing more of his blanket over Eddie.

"How c-could you tell?" Eddie whispered, curling up under the blanket and scooting closer to Richie.

"Your stupid emotion transfer power bullshit. I kept dreaming about icicles and freezing, so I woke up cold as shit. Then I saw you shaking," Richie explained, closing his eyes and settling back into the pillows.

"Do you mind me sleeping here?" Eddie asked, still uncertain about Richie and scared he was irritating him.

"Eds, no offense, but you have terrible control over your powers. Because you're not taking those pills, they're probably getting stronger. The way I see it, if you're freezing on the ground, both of us are, so no, I don't mind you sleeping here."

Eddie nodded, even though Richie couldn't see him since his eyes were closed. He knew Richie was most likely annoyed with him, but Eddie couldn't help his wanting to be closer to Richie. He cautiously moved closer, ready to leap away should Richie wake up and glare at him.

What Eddie didn't know was that Richie was awake and had his eyes barely open, watching as Eddie fearfully scooted closer. He knew Eddie must've been nervous and unsure of how to act in the new environment. He needed comfort.

So, Richie threw his arm over Eddie's waist and pulled him close, smiling when Eddie sighed contently and clutched onto Richie's shirt. He buried his face in Richie's chest, and it didn't take long for sleep to take over.

Richie wasn't able to fall asleep as quickly. He was working his brain, trying to figure out how best to help Eddie. Even if they found someone who knew of demons, what could they do? Was it possible to help Eddie find other demons and  get away from his psycho mother.

Dawn broke through Richie's window before he finally fell asleep.