IT stuff

Holding Hands

The hair on Eddie's neck feels sharp and pierces his skin. His arms are stiff and gripping the sides of his shorts. Despite being paralyzed with fear, he instinctively grabs for Richie and clutches his hand so tight his knuckles turn white.

Richie looks down at him, heart beating a mile a minute but trying to keep cool. He grins and takes in a breath to make a joke, except...Eddie just stares forward, utter terror in his expression. He's trembling. His breaths are shallow and rigid. Richie's eyebrows knit, and his smile is gone in an instant.

Eddie turns his head towards Richie, his pupils like pinholes until he meets Richie's gaze. He purses his lips and takes in a deep breath, still pale in the face. He slowly lets the air escape his lungs as he scans Richie's features. His dark, wavy hair that curls up at the bottom, the way his eyes look bugged out from his inch-thick glasses, the faint freckles that dot his cheekbones. It gives Eddie a sense of peace, almost as if Richie's presence is his only haven in the midst of the horror they've experienced from that disgusting clown.

Something about this moment, this little moment makes a thought in Richie's mind just click, like his inner self went "Oh. I physically cannot be funny right now. All I can be is here, for you." He doesn't crack a joke. He doesn't laugh. He doesn't smile. He just looks right into Eddie's eyes, and he squeezes Eddie's hand back.

For a moment, Eddie's heart rate slows with relief, but it immediately picks back up when he realizes that they're holding hands right now. His mind is racing, wondering if Richie's is too. He doesn't know for sure, but judging by how sweaty Richie's hand is, he assumes his thoughts are similar.

But neither of them let go. The years of rumors, and name-calling, and joke-making in tired old Derry urge them to, but they don't. Derry isn't here right now. Even the rest of the Losers aren't in this moment. It's just Richie and Eddie. Fingers interlocked, chests tight. They're more scared than they've ever been in their entire 13 year old lives, but somehow, because they have each other, they aren't afraid.