𝗔𝗼𝟯: 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀: 𝗹𝘆𝗻𝗻𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟴 (18346)
𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗴: 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗶𝗻: 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘀
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"Quebec...Québec...hm...que-"
"Spaghetti, I swear to god," Richie sighed.
"How cold is it gonna be again?" Eddie asked. The plane hadn't even left Maine yet, and Eddie was already wearing too many sweaters.
"I dunno...like below zero some days I think. My parents stopped telling me because I would freak out when I was little," Richie replied.
"Do you think I brought enough hand warmers?" Eddie was mostly talking to himself as he did a mental checklist of all his items.
"You got like two boxes, Eds," Richie reminded him.
"No, I got a full box and a travel sized box...and don't call me Eds!" He hissed. Richie chuckled.
"I'm surprised we even got you on the plane."
"Only because my mother didn't talk me out of it. She'll kill me if she finds out I wasn't actually stuck on campus during break and I instead ran off with you of all people," Eddie grumbled.
"Oh god, she'd be so jealous. I've really been neglecting her since I ran off to California," Richie teased. Eddie rolled his eyes.
"More like she'd be repulsed that I trusted you to care for me. I'm 'delicate', remember?" Richie laughed loudly, and his mother quickly shushed him.
"Boys, the plane is going to take off soon," she informed them.
"Then let's goooooo," Richie groaned.
As if by command, the captain started speaking and the flight attendants started their safety announcements. After that the plan started rolling, and Eddie's hand instantly found Richie's. He would've teased the other boy about it, but when he saw how tightly Eddie squeezed his eyes shut he felt his heart squeeze with them. Instead he knotted their fingers together, and Eddie took that as permission to cling to his whole arm. The plane hadn't even lifted off the ground yet, but once it did Eddie's grip became impossibly tighter. Richie started to fear for his fingers when they started to go numb. Thankfully he loosened up after they stabilized, but he still gripped Richie tighter every time there was turbulence.
Eddie and Richie were best friends still despite going to different colleges. Their friendship was just as stubborn as they were, and it wasn't super hard to keep up with. Since they were still so close, Richie's parents decided to invite Eddie to Quebec with them that year. Usually they did it every Christmas because they had a lot of aunts and uncles up there. Richie's parents recently confessed they thought he might lose touch with Eddie after moving so far, but seeing that they still talked as much as they used to, Maggie and Wentworth Tozier decided he should come up with them this time.
It wasn't unusual for Richie to bring friends to Quebec with his family. Stan went most of the times, but sometimes Bill went. Mike was invited once but he had to turn it down since he had a lot of work to do during the holidays. Beverly unfortunately was never allowed because she's a girl, but also because they kinda lost touch once she moved to Portland. It made sense that his parents thought that would happen with Eddie, so Richie shouldn't be too upset when his parents assumed they would lose touch. Except he kinda was, but more so at the idea of losing Eddie.
Incase it wasn't obvious, Richie is gay. He's especially gay for Eddie, and that made him feel strange. He never wanted to make him uncomfortable, but at the same time he wanted to make him laugh and make him happy. Richie wanted to protect Eddie, but not in the same way his mother did. No, Richie wanted to be there for him. He wanted Eddie to experience the best life he could, but he wanted to be there to stop anyone who dared try and make it anything but fantastic. He wanted to punch Henry when he threatened Eddie with his brand new pocketknife, and he wanted to chuck him in the woods when he called Eddie a faggot for merely standing next to Richie. After everything they had been through together in that shitty town, Richie hated the mere speculation that he and Eddie would ever lose touch. The only way he'd lose Eddie was if Eddie deadass told him to fuck off, and so far every time Eddie did Richie could see him fighting a smile while he tried to pout.
