Lover | Richie Tozier

Chapter 45.

"This isn't a good idea. This isn't a good idea. This isn't a good fucking-"

"No offense man but," Richie cusped his hand around Eddie's small shoulder. "Can you shut up? You know, like, sometimes."

Eddie shook his head in denial. While his hands tapped on his sides, he made his way up the long gravel road that was brushed ahead of the trio. "You guys are lucky my mom works the late shift tonight. If she found out I was out on Halloween night we'd be fucked. Royally fucked."

"Fucking is good," Richie remarked back. He chewed on his bottom lip which was tied up magnetically in an idiotic smirk. This was one of his small mannerisms that Elle had noticed throughout the past 2 months - he'd meticulously pull the corner of his lip into this mouth and run his teeth through it gently as his brain ran with his thoughts. The many idiosyncrasies that she picked up on and slowly became infatuated with were all compliments of Richie's personality begging to be let out.

"Don't you agree, Elle?" He looked past Eddie and over to the celestial persona that was walking beside him, fixing his glasses so he could get a better look.

Beep me, fucker. Flirt with me.

His question was met with silence. The air tightened around her and became the only thing coming out of her mouth. Richie waited for a moment, his breath tightening in his throat as he began to wonder if something was wrong her.

Then, in a perfect mix of relief and etherealness, she smiled. "Sorry. Did you say something, Rich?"

The beam dancing on her soft lips swirled around them like the summertime pollen in the meadow. Heaven and Earth had never agreed to make a more beautiful being through the windows of Richie's scuffed soul.

"I asked you a question, but never mind that," Richie's head tousled his curls. He used the sole of his shoes to collect the dry mix of dirt and pebbles under him and kicked them into a grey cloud that melted into the Fall atmosphere. He sucked at his lip again, trying to organize his notions before asking his next question. "What uh..." his fingertips massaged the back of his neck as he hesitated. "What were you thinking about?"

The stretch on her face never faded. "You," she answered intoxicatingly.

He felt his nerves tremble suddenly, urging for him to slow his pace so he could catch his breath. "What?"

"I was thinking about you," she repeated. "And Stan. And Bill. And Mike. And Eddie."

When Eddie had processed that she had said his name, his eyes lifted from the road ahead of him and onto her features. They twinkled with the setting sun in the sky. "Really? What about us?"

"Everything. Everything about all of you."

"Well that's precise," Richie scoffed. The tone that his words basked in urged her to continue, and so did his locked gaze.

Tell me. Tell me that you pay attention to me like I pay attention to you. Tell me that you notice every little fucking thing I do and tell me that the smallest details can drive you over the edge. Tell me what you love about me.

"When I say everything, I mean everything. I mean the way that this all started with Richie hitting me in the face with a God-damn door. The way that you offered me a place at your vacant table with no second thought, Eddie. The way that Bill is so dedicated to appealing to the girl he's head over heels for and doesn't even care if everyone else thinks he looks like a love-sick fool. The way that Mike dilutes any simmering situation with one smile. The way that Stan is constantly trying to open our eyes to the world around us. The way that Richie gave us a chance."

The world stopped still on its axis and the vast paragraph spilled into both boys' ears, filling their lungs with warmth. Usually this much attention on Eddie's lungs meant asthma, but not this time. This meant love.

Richie felt that same burning fire within her that he had felt the first day they met. The one he continuously compared her to while he realized just how cold and bitter the rest of his life was. Looking over at her was like re-discovering your favorite song, remembering just how much you loved it since the last time you heard it. You could recite the lyrics back to yourself and somehow feel them ten-times more than you had before despite having heard it a million times.

His heart coursed through the rest of his veins and spoke to him through his conscious. Even though everybody who knew Richie knew that he'd never get himself to follow through, he still thought:
I don't know how much longer it'll be that you're without your first kiss. Maybe the setting of the orange sun will bring about an ivory moon of opportunity. Maybe tonight's the night, Lively.