old friends, new feelings
By:squeezethecheeses
eddie walked quickly down the sidewalk. even though he knew that that fucking clown was gone, he still didn't want to be caught near any storm drains. at least not by himself. jumping over the three steps leading up to the porch, he quickly rang the doorbell.
"eds!" richie said, grinning, when he finally opened the door.
"don't call me that," eddie said, though he did crack a small smile.
"come on, you know you love it."
"no, i know YOU love it because it makes me mad."
"yeah; i do think it's kind of fun to see you all flustered."
"whatever," eddie said, not giving in and letting richie actually see him get flustered.
"ooh, you TOLD me," richie said, snapping. "and the comeback master award goes to...Eddie Fucking Kaspbrak."
"shut up," eddie said jokingly, shoving his friend lightly on the shoulder.
"so what's shakin, bacon?" richie asked as he walked out of his house, leading eddie to his backyard. he haphazardly plopped down underneath the shade of his large oak tree. eddie followed, scooting around until he found the perfect spot to sit, free of all roots or stray leaves. once his friend sat down, richie put his head on his shoulder.
"nothing much. i've just been thinking about ... some things," eddie replied, trying not to move and disturb richie.
"veeeery specific, eds. like what?"
"um...school," eddie said quickly. richie, of course, knew his best friend exceptionally well. he could tell something was up. eddie would never hesitate to open up about his Things he'd think about. usually, thinking about school led to worrying about future grades and test scores and bad teachers (despite it still being summer).
"no, seriously. dude, don't fuck around with me; i can smell your bullshit from here," richie said, shooting up and moving closer to eddie. he inhaled deeply. "ooh, and your shampoo. did you start using a new one? you smell different. or is that just your BULLSHIT?"
"both."
"you'll have to tell me what you switched to, dude; that smells fucking delicious," richie said, feeling eddie's hair. eddie felt his spine tingle. "and it's so fucking soft! dude..."
richie continued to play with eddie's hair, moving his fingers up and down the back of his head. the smaller boy shivered.
eddie bit his lip. he knew why he walked over here in the first place, and he wasn't going to leave until he let it out.
"richie, hanging out with you this summer was...amazing. this was definitely, without a doubt, the most fun i've ever had. even though we almost got murdered by a fucking clown; if we took that part out, it really would be something," he said breathlessly.
"what about the part where you had to get a cast? isn't that pretty bad too?" richie asked, eyeing eddie's bright white cast.
"yeah, i guess," he said, looking down and absentmindedly tracing the V in "lover" with his finger.
"okay, anyway," he continued, still tracing the V, "i learned a lot about myself this summer. how it didn't matter if i walked through piss and shit. i didn't care that i disobeyed my mom with every action."
eddie paused and looked straight ahead, locking eyes with richie.
"but there's one more thing i learned this summer, more important than all of the other things." his eyes went to a stray acorn on the ground. "i realized that i'm gay."
"how? i mean, did you see that demon ass clown and think, 'wow, i really wanna hit that?'" richie fired back. eddie let out an agitated sigh. "sorry, sorry, i know you're trying to be serious."
the other boy went silent. richie was afraid he said the wrong thing and made him shut up for good.
"i knew because of you, richie," eddie finally said, looking up again and staring at richie. eddies cheeks flushed.
"ohmygod, that was so stupid! i just ruined everything and now you're gonna hate me. fucking shit!" eddie said abruptly, standing up and turning towards the gate. richie shot up and grabbed eddie's hand, stopping him dead in his tracks.
"you're so cute when you're flustered, you know?" richie whispered. eddie froze.
"w-what?"
"eds, i know perfectly well that you know exactly what i said," richie said, finding eddie's cast and tracing the bright red V.
"i know," eddie said, giving a lopsided smile as he looked down at his arm.
richie stopped tracing the other boy's cast and instead found his hand. he traces small circles on eddie's palm. "you made it worth it, you know? sticking around long enough to kill that clown and save all of the people. if you weren't my friend, i probably would have called it quits and said, 'fuck it.' i didn't want him to come back and, you know, take you too. i wasn't sure i would be able to handle it. that's kind of when i knew, too," richie said quietly. he chuckled. "now you've got me acting all serious and shit. what have you done to me?"
eddie looked up at richie. their faces were inches apart.
"hey, eddie; can i...kiss you?" richie asked quickly. "i figured that i'd have to ask because of the germs and everyth-"
richie didn't get to finish. he was cut off by eddie's lips on his. it didn't take him long to kiss back. they stood there, kissing and holding hands until eddie broke away.
"you have no idea," he said breathlessly, "how long i've wanted to do that."
richie grabbed both of eddie's hands and smiled.
"me too, dude."
