Forever ~ Reddie

Richie

 "Are we there yet?" Eddie whined as Richie held his hand firmly leading him. Richie wanted to make this the most perfect date ever, so while they were at the arcade he had called Bill and asked him what Eddie's favorite things were.

Richie was a little bit jealous of how close Eddie and Bill were, as they usually hung out together, and were friends before Richie joined the group. Since none of the losers knew about the relationship that the two boys had, Richie confessed to Bill over the phone. 

"Hello?" Bill's voice rang through the receiver.

"Hey"

"Tr-trashmouth! W-what th-the hell? Why a-aren't you a-at school" 

"Calm down, I'm at the arcade with Eddie.... I think it's a date." 

"Wh-what? You're o-on a d-d-date?" 

"Yeah, and I wanna impress him. What does Eddie like to do for fun?" 

"We-well I guess h-he like the aquarium. He always w-w-wants to g-go but I find it boring." 

"Great thanks Bill, you're the best! Well second best, gotta keep best for my Eddie Spaghetti. Anyways I'll see you later, tell anyone about this and I'll cut ya." 

And then he hung up. 

Now he was walking, hand in hand with the love of his life about to go to the aquarium. He was shaking with nerves. Richie knew that the aquarium would be empty at this time of day, and he wasn't sure that he was ready to be alone with Eddie again after just doing whatever the hell they had done the night before. 

"Okay Spaghetti, we're here." Richie said, his voice catching in his throat. What if Eddie didn't actually like the aquarium, and Bill was just messing with him? He knew it was stupid to think, and he felt like an idiot. Trashmouth Tozier felt like an idiot. 

True, Richie normally felt out of place around his friends but he never felt dumb, in fact they made him feel smart, always complimenting him on how well he does on tests and asking him for answers. Today he felt like the biggest idiot in the world, of course Eddie wouldn't like his surprise. 

"Oh my god," Eddie gasped as he opened his eyes, the way that the light shone in his eyes made the hues brighter, yet deeper and full of mystery. Before Richie could reHis hands outstretched, he spun, twirling, hair going everywhere and eyes fluttering closed in a silent laugh. To Richie this was music, it was the melody of his heart which had previously been playing softly through headphones and was now blasting through a speaker. He wanted the whole world to know this, but in his selfish heart he also wanted this beauty for himself.

Eddie slowed down his twirl, and stumbled a bit, giggling. He walked over to Richie making his heart pound fast at the beautiful mess before him. He was perfect.

"Dance with me Rich" Eddie whispered, though there was no need for a whisper, nobody was around, it seemed as though he was trying to preserve the peace of the moment. The calm feeling of hope of the future.

"There's no music Eds" Richie laughed quietly, but placed his hands on the shorter boys waist anyways, pulling him closer. He needed to get as close as possible to this boy.

"I love you," Eddie stated, his voice soft still as they started to sway gently leaning on each other for support, not just physically but emotionally too. Everything had been so difficult for them since they defeated It. Eddie had been struggling with his mom and trying to convince her that he wasn't sick, while Richie had been trying to convince his parents to adopt a young boy. 

Richie had often visited the orphanage to see the children, and had become a regular there telling jokes to the kids who always appreciated it. There was one boy though that caught Richie's eye every time he went. The boy was young, around the age of four or five and always perked up when Richie came to see them. 

The boys name was Georgie, and while Richie had nothing against the boys name it reminded him of It and the events that the losers had faced. He started to ask Georgie questions and learned to love the boy, although he could be stubborn so could Richie. One day while they were talking Georgie asked Richie something that left the boy stunned.

"Can you be my family Richie? You're the only one who really seems to care." 

These two sentences left Richie in shock and he felt hot tears build behind his eyes. He nodded gently and pulled the young boy into a tight hug making Georgie squeak and try to escape his grasp, which just made him. hold on tighter. Ever since that day Richie tried to convince his parents to adopt Georgie, until they said something that made him stop. 

"If you care so much about this boy, just wait a few more months, then you can be eighteen and adopt him for yourself" Wentworth had spat at his son through gritted teeth. It was so simple of an answer, yet Richie doubted himself. He couldn't take care of a child by himself, he was just barely going to be an adult. 

"Eddie" Richie whispered into his love's hair gently, "how do you feel about kids?" 

"Why? Do you want one, I don't think either of us have the.... right materials for that" Eddie laughed sweetly looking up at Richie, he realised that Richie wasn't laughing and stopped, thinking for a bit. "I think children are great Rich, but I also think that we're still kids." 

"I know, it's just there's this kid at the orphanage. His name is Georgie," He heard Eddie gasp slightly and felt his grasp tighten on his shoulders. Richie held Eddie's waist tighter and kissed his head before continuing, "he needs a family Eds. I need a family" Richie choked on his words and let out a sob.

"Richie..." 

"It's fine, I know I'm dumb for suggesting it." he released his grasp on Eddie's waist, though Eddie never let go. 

"You're not dumb Rich you need love. You need someone to care for you and I'm here, just let me in please." he went up on his toes and kissed Richie gently, heart skipping a beat and eyes fluttering closed. 

Richie moved back into Eddie's grasp and leaned down into the kiss gently. He would never stop loving the feeling of kissing Eddie and his soft lips. 

"Maybe we can think about adopting Georgie, I never want to let you down ok Rich? If you feel that you need each other I'm going to do everything I can to help you."