Not Sure If You're A Boy or A Girl~ Reddie

The Puzzle of Life

Eddie dropped out of school. It seemed to be the only logical answer to his absence and constant dread of the tired old brick building. Richie followed, his father not trying to stop him.
It was another grey December day in Derry, as the two made their way into the local community college. The test was ridiculously simple. Things like division and synonyms for 'question'. They passed with flying colours.
Eddie sipped on his coffee in Richie's bedroom. He added no sugar, finally acquiring the taste for plain coffe and milk. That plus his GED certificate proved that at sixteen he was in fact an adult. Stan was trying with an immense amount of patience to teach Richie how to play Soduku. He and Bill had come over to see when the couple would be coming back to school. They had burst through the front door rather abruptly, no longer concerned with the possibility of a parent being home.
"You guys ready for Monday? I've got all the notes from Chemistry, History, Maths and Bill has English and Pysch covered. You're on your own for Art, Rich, but-"
"Woah, slow down The Man. We're not gonna be needing notes. Eddie and I decided we're over school."
Richie landed back on the sofa beside Eddie. Bill peered over the tall stack of books in his arms. He and Stan made their way into the living room.
"So what, you're just gonna drop out?"
Stan and Bill shared a knowing glance before Stan threw his arms up in defeat. Books fell harshly on the now spotless coffee table.
"No, actually, we already did."
Neither Eddie or Richie broke their gaze as they stared at Stan. They did manage to high five each other. Without looking. It was pretty badass, in Richie's opinion.
"You can not be serious.Thats idiotic."
Stan spoke in a firm, father like tone.
"Well if we're so dumb how come we're both GED certified."
Eddie smiled at the memory as a pencil narrowly missed his head. It clattered against Richie's bed frame.
"Cunt," he looked at Eddie instantly softening, "er um dick. Yeah, all the dicks!"
Stan groaned, pulling a pencil from his breast pocket. He erased the paper in haste.
"No, see," he brought Richie's attention back to the puzzle, "You've already got a three in the vertical row. It's not just about the box. You've got to look at the big picture,too."
Eddie figured that's why Stan liked soduku so much. The game was all about placement. Every number had its spot. If you played it right every number would have its place. They'd fit into the boxes perfectly. It made sense. The essence of logic.
Eddie thought that life would be easier if it was like soduku. If everything was logical. Or maybe it was and he just didn't understand the rules. He was putting the three in the wrong box, essentially running the whole game.
"S-so you dropped out. What's n-next?"
Bill was studying Richie's record player. Carefully, lifting the needle and setting it back in a grove. Bowie's Queen Bitch replayed in the room.
Richie lifted his head to meet Eddie's eyes.
They hadn't really thought about the next step. Not that this was new. It seemed like their entire relationship was based on reacting instead of preparing.
"New York." Richie's words lifted an octave at the end.
"New York?"
"Yeah, the homeland of misfits and screwups." He maintained.
"And what, be homeless in another state?"
Bill snorted at Stan's remark.
Richie tossed the sudoku puzzle back to the curly haired wise cracker, opting to sit next to his boyfriend instead.He was done talking about this.
Long arms wrapped against Eddie's waist. The dark haired boy's breath tickling his ear.
Richie, unlike Stan, did not get excited when everything had a specific place. He found the concept stifling.
All eyes were on Eddie, or rather Eddie and his boyfriend, then. He figured they wanted him to object to the idea of living on the streets of New York City, but he didn't have the wherewithal to either argue for or against it. He was just tired.
"No-nothing? No t-th-thoughts E-Eds?"
"Yeah, Eddie you're supposed to talk Richie out of dumb ideas. Not go along with them."
Eddie gives a slightly shrug of his shoulder, jostling Richie's head in the process, "I don't think it's such a dumb idea."
Eddie bit the inside of his cheek, bracing for the onslaught of insults from Stan and Bill. They said nothing. He takes the moment to continue, "What else are we supposed to do?"
Stan looked at the pair with an expression Eddie couldn't place. He felt uneasy knowing that they're current situation warranted a new face.

That night after Sonia had come to the door with the aid of a police officer to escort Eddie home and he snuck back out his window, he found himself sitting in the den with Richie and Wentworth. The man had aged ten years in a few days. Dark crescents clinging to his weary eyes.
"You're leaving town again, then?"
"That's the current plan, yes."
Richie said, eyes trained on a crooked picture of his parents on their wedding day. They couldn't have been more than twenty and it dawned on him he never bothered to ask.
Maggie wore a white column dress with laced sleeves ending just above her wrists. Her dark hair pooling on her delicate shoulders.
"How old where you when you married Mom?"
Went's head knocked back, like the question was a punch to the jaw. He cleared his throat in an attempt to adjust.
"I was twenty one. Your Mother was seventeen."
"That's young."
"Yes, your grandmother had made that very clear at the engagement party."
He says the words with a far away chuckle.
"So, she didn't approve?" Eddie asked.
"She was hesitant. I didn't have a real job, yet. I was studying at the university and your mother had just finished high school."
"But you got married anyway."
"We were in love."
The room was still. Wentworth piecing together what the two were suggesting. He adjusted his glasses.
"What will you do there?"
"We just passed the GED exam, so the worlds our oyster." Richie said less than enthusiastic.
"When are you going?"
"As soon as we can. We'll have to get train tickets and some money to start out."
Wentworth gave a heavy sigh, "how much do you have left from your Mother?"
Eddie's felt his mouth slide open in surprise as Richie communicated his exact thought, "You knew?"
"I know a lot more than you think, Richard," Went's lips curled into a smile, looking at his son's knees knocking into his partners. Maybe they were in love, "so I'll lend you some funds. Enough to get off the ground and enroll in community college."
Richie knew then that his Father expressed his love in a different way. A very green way.