If Only I was Faster
By:whitedandelions
It takes Richie a second, but when he blinks his eyes open, Eddie’s face swims in front of him. He reacts immediately, pulling Eddie flush against him, his own heart beating a mile a minute because hello, his old crush of forever has been reignited these past few days and Eddie is on top of him.
He feels embarrassed and guilty a second later but swallows his words when IT’s claw goes flying above their heads.
“Oh god,” escapes his mouth and Eddie looks down at him.
“I guess that makes us even,” he says, and then there’s not much time for talking as they have to scramble up to dodge.
Richie still can’t believe they made it out without anyone getting hurt. The others of the Losers’ Club are in just as much shock as he is and jumping off the cliff into the lake almost seems necessary in a way. Their laughter is stilted, but there, and Richie smiles in the face of it all. He’s the comedian, and he should make a joke to lighten the air but his heart’s still not up to it. They could’ve all died today, and yet, they’re all alive.
Eddie is sitting next to him on the rock, watching the others laugh and celebrate, and it almost seems unreal. He’s so close, pressed up against Richie because the rock is so small with his warmth invading Richie’s body, and all Richie can think about is that Eddie could be dead. Richie could be dead.
In front of them, Beverly and Ben are underwater, and her flash of red hair is visible even with the murkiness of the lake water. They’re kissing.
“Oh,” he says, and he shouldn’t be surprised, he’s known forever that Ben has crushed on Beverly since they were children. He wonders if his crush had ever been that obvious, if everyone knew that he liked Eddie more than he should.
But he knows that they haven’t seen each other in twenty-seven years and that there’s no way any of them could be perceptive enough –
Bill catches his eye. He’s floating in the water, eyes wide and distraught for a second before alighting onto Richie. There’s a pregnant pause in which nothing happens, and then Bill’s eyes cut to Eddie next to him and it’s a clear sign given the things Richie had been thinking about.
Maybe he had been obvious. If even Bill knew…
Bill ducks under the water, making a splash and leaving them alone.
He tries to work up the courage to say anything, to tell Eddie his feelings, when a soft touch on his hand jolts him out of his thoughts.
Eddie intertwines their fingers together and Richie’s heart skips a beat. He can’t say anything, his heart caught in his throat, but it doesn’t seem like his words are needed. Eddie’s heart is beating as fast as his own; he can feel it pressed up against him and it brings a flush to his cheeks.
“I saw you, you know,” Eddie says quietly, so quietly that only Richie can hear him. There’s splashing and there’s not much time at all before the others come back up.
“Saw me?” he parrots, his heart still not calming down and Eddie lets out a soft breath.
“Scratching our initials into the wood,” he says.
