˗ˏˋ reddie ; kinda soft ???? idk
word count ; 766
—
A SIGH erupted from eddie's mouth as he tucked his hands gently into the pocket of his hoodie and brought his knees to his petite chest. the bus windows rattled and the talking of unruly kids was loud enough to overpower the music from the headphones connected to his walkman cassette player. he could hardly hear the angelic sounds of morrissey's voice due to the sheer volume of sound coming from the people surrounding him.
the kids on the bus were on their way to a shitty church camp for the summer, making stops every few minutes to pick up more kids. the crowded bus was slowly getting more and more filled by the kids that spilled through the doors. he fiddled with the sleeves of his hoodie, sighing and momentarily shutting his eyes.
people tended to avoid eddie, noticing the rainbow badges and patches that littered his clothing and bags and deciding to keep their distance. not wanting to interact with the curly haired feminine looking boy.
eddie only removed his headphones when he noticed the tall boy taking large strides down the aisle towards him. his raven coloured unruly hair fell into his pale face, as he clutched his bag that hung on his shoulder to his chest. he threw his bag into the floor under the chair, and sat on the seat next to eds. he tried his best not to stare at the messy haired boy – though his attempts failed.
he found himself peeking out from under his eyelashes to get a better look at the boy – he was pretty. dressed in an all black outfit despite the scorching weather outside – a 'the cure' shirt hanging loosely on his thin frame and past his thighs. the waterline of his eyes was rimmed with dark liner.
the boy, richie, was trying his absolute best not to make eye contact. he noticed the way the pretty boy gawked at him, playing with the sleeves of his hoodie and looking up at him through his fluttering eyelashes. richie was used to the lingering stares he received from people on the street, but this was different to that.
hesitantly he glanced to his left, and watched as the petite boy bounced back on his seat. he uncomfortable moved his gaze to the trees that flashed past outside the window. an amused smile spread across his chapped lips, as he bit them gently "you can go back to listening to your music now." he chuckled to himself, shaking his head slightly and making his curls bounce. "turn the walkman back on, the show's over."
"wasn't staring." eddie mumbled to himself, shrugging and playing with the neck of his hoodie. "observing, maybe. not staring." he added. richie tucked a stray curl behind his ear and repressed a smile, before leaning back in his chair and looking away from eddie. "what's your name?" he pressed further, ignoring the sigh that fell from the taller boys lips.
he hummed to himself, moving the position of his legs before opening his mouth to speak again "richie – my name's richie." richie's voice was soft, despite his somewhat rough and intimidating exterior. eddie awaited the same question to come from richie's mouth, but it didn't. instead his ears were met with silence from richie despite the loud surroundings of the bus.
"i'm eddie... by the way. it's edward but uh, i don't like that. i don't like eds either really - just eddie. that's it." the words came unwillingly flowing from his mouth like a leaking tap, it seemed as if he had little to no control over the syllables that his tongue created with each movement. he was so distracted by the embarrassment of the moment that he failed to notice richie and the smug smile that covered his face, a response to eddie's flustered composure.
there was a pause, before richie's cocky response filled the air between them "okay, eds. i'll keep that in mind." eddie cringed, knowing that he shouldn't have mentioned it. although there was a part deep down inside of him that kinda liked it. he ignored the redness that covered his freckled cheeks and the eruption of butterflies that filled his stomach, all caused by the boy he had just met.
"okay... okay richard." eddie replied, the anxiety spilling through his words. richie laughed to himself, knowing that he wasn't as irritated by his full name as eddie was by his nickname.
rich turned, giving him a small smile before turning away. eddie let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding. another three hours of this?
