biggest fan

thirty two

"now," richie said into his microphone. "before i start the last song, i just want to say that it is the last song of the american tour. and i want to thank all of you for coming out tonight."

the sound of fans screaming couldn't be missed as the music begun. eddie sat backstage, bev sitting next to him. they had both grown tired of hearing this song play over and over and over, but eddie would've listened to it all day, everyday, for the rest of his life if it meant that he could stay.

stay on the tour. stay with the band. stay with the friends that he had made. stay with richie.

eddie wanted to. he knew that he should. he knew that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. going on tour with people who had become your best friends. even though it wasn't his tour, it was still amazing to experience. it was beautiful.

but eddie has responsibilities.

his mother had recently fallen ill, and after the show tonight, he would have to go home.

he had priorities.

school was starting back up. eddie needed to finish. he needed to be able to provide for himself. and he couldn't risk quitting school now. not for a tour with a rock band.

he had yet to tell richie. he didn't want to ruin the show. he couldn't let this ruin the closing show, because it was so important to richie. richie had planned this tour alone, made everything happen on his own. if eddie would have told him that he was leaving, it would have ruined all that richie had worked towards.

when the show ended and everyone had made it back to their hotel rooms, eddie stayed silent.

richie had excused himself to take a shower, asking eddie to see if there was anything good on tv. they both knew that there wasn't. there never was.

eddie looked anyways. he looked every night.

after richies shower, eddie continued to be quiet. richie grabbed his hand, wondering what was the issue.

"what's going on, eds?" eddie looked up, reminding himself to not cry. he didn't want to ruin the night for richie.

"sit down," eddie said, waiting for richie to take a seat before continuing to speak. when richie was next to him on the bed, eddie started to talk. "richie, i'm- i'm going home."

"what?" richie said after a moment, pain filling his voice.

"i have to go back home. i cant go to europe with you. you said that you'd support me with whatever i chose to do, and this is what i need to do. my mom is sick, rich. i've gotta help her, i have to go back to school."

"i didn't think you'd actually not come. i thought that you'd stay with me. i'm really not trying to make you feel bad, i'm just surprised." richie stood up and started pacing. eddie stayed where he was and watched, feeling awful.

"richie i'm sorry, i want to stay. i do, i want to go with you. i just can't."

"why can't you? i'll pay for whatever your mom has to get done, i'll pay for the treatment and doctors visits. fuck i'll even pay for an in house nurse if i need to. take a gap year, take the classes online until we get back. fuck eddie do whatever just please don't leave me."

"i have responsibilities, rich. look, doing this with you has been the greatest experience of my entire life. meeting you and your friends, and fans of you. it's been great. but it's not for me. this lifestyle, it's not mine. it's yours. i have to go home, and live my life how it was. i'm sorry richie, and i love you. but this is what i chose to do, and it's what i'm doing."