reddie oneshots

eeee

richie shuddered in the icy breeze brought on by late november. the tall boy held an umbrella over his head, trying to keep the mushy sleet from soaking him; he continued to walk on into the woods towards the club house ben had built, assuming nobody was there.
he assumed wrong. eddie, who he hadn't talked to in the past three months because of the clown, was laying in the hammock, drenched to the bone in only a t-shirt and jeans. he was pale, almost blue, and shaking horribly.
panic gripped richie's chest and he rushed over to eddie. he shook the sleeping boy's shoulder a little roughly, heart hammering.
     eddie shot up, looking around wildly. "p-please don't hit me!" he cried, before his eyes landed on richie. "oh," he breathed. "it's just you."
     richie had froze, not only at eddie's words, but at his arms. they were covered in dark purple and blue bruises.
     eddie noticed the excessive staring, and pulled the sleeves of his t-shirt down. not that it helped, but he felt too self conscious not to.
     richie opened and closed his mouth, looking for words. "who gave you those bruises eddie?" he asked, wide-eyed. "is someone hurting you?!"
     eddie looked up with tear-filled eyes. he violently shook his head no.
     richie knew he was lying; eddie never spoke a word when he lied.
     "who did it eds?" he asked him softly.
     eddie shook his head again, squeezing his eyes shut as a few tears leaked out of them.
     "and where is your jacket?" richie continued. "look at you, you're soaking wet and literally turning blue!"
    eddie peeked down at fingers. of course, they were blue. he gasped.
     richie had a moment of pity. "come on eds, take off your shirt and i'll give you my jacket."
     eddie shook his head no yet again. "i c-can't," he hiccuped.
     "why not spaghetti?" richie questioned.
     eddie shot him a glare through his tears. "d-don't call me that, and i don't h-have to do anything for y-you," he sniffled.
     "ok, ok you're right eds. i'm sorry. just try to breathe evenly, ok?"
    eddie sniffled and nodded, taking a shuddery gasp. finally, when his tears stopped and he got his breathing back in control, he spoke again.
     "c-can i have your jacket?" he asked meekly, almost sounding ashamed. "i know i said i didn't want it, but-"
     "of course eds," richie cut him off. "just take off your t-shirt, because it's not gonna help if you're soaking wet."
     eddie nodded in agreement, rolling himself out of the hammock. "can you turn around? please?" he asked timidly.
     richie peeled off his jacket and handed it to eddie, wondering why he had to turn around, but still complied.
eddie lifted his soaked shirt over his head, wrapping himself in richie's oversized jacket.
"ok, you can turn back around now," eddie told richie.
richie turned back around, smiling softly to himself at how cute eddie looked in a too-big jacket and skinny jeans.
"so, uh, can i ask why you're out here in the middle of winter?" richie questioned eddie gently.
eddie shrugged. "i dunno... my mom," he mumbled, looking at the dusty floor.
"is she the one that gave you all the bruises on your arm?"
slowly, eddie nodded.
richie pulled eddie closer to him and held him tightly in his arms. eddie melted into his grasp, having missed the human contact he had always received from the losers club.
"why are you out here?" eddie asked.
richie sighed. "i miss it. i miss being here with all you beautiful losers. i miss hearing beep beep richie. hell, i miss henry bowers chasing us. but, eds, i missed you most of all.
"this place reminds me of everything. everything i miss. everything i need," richie admitted.
eddie nodded. "i get that. i've missed you too richie. a lot."
"you wanna come to my house? you can sleep over if you wanna," richie told eddie, running his fingers through eddie's hair.
"can i?" eddie asked, trying and failing to not let his happiness take over. "yes!"
richie giggled and grabbed eddie's hand. "come on!"
they walked through the icy sleet, becoming soaked yet again. the two boys finally reached richie's house, rushing upstairs.
richie immediately pulled off his drenched sweater; eddie watched on quietly, fiddling with the zipper of the sweatshirt wrapped around his body.
"go ahead and take off the jacket eds, i'm sure i have some clothes that'll fit you."
eddie bit his lip, shaking his head. "no... it's ok," eddie mumbled, tears welling up in his eyes.
richie pulled a dry t-shirt over his head before walking over to eddie, who had sank down to the floor, resting his back on the corner of richie's bed. richie knelt down between eddie's legs.
"what's wrong?" he breathed softly, cupping eddie's face gently.
"i can't take it off," eddie whispered numbly.
richie assumed this had something to do with eddie making him turn around in the club house.
"can i take it off for you?" richie asked, trailing his thumb slowly up and down eddie's cheek bone.
eddie locked his tear and panic-filled eyes with richie. "i d-don't want you to be ma- upset," eddie sniffled.
"i won't, i promise." richie held out his pinky, and eddie linked theirs together. "now can i please take of your jacket so i can get you warmed up?"
eddie nodded. "okay."
richie stood to his feet, grabbing the zipper that started just below eddie's chin.
eddie took a deep breath, held it, and locked his eyes on richie's poster-covered wall.
richie unzipped the jacket in one fluid motion, nearly crying out in surprise. he stared with wide eyes at the dark purple bruises that littered eddie's chest, ribcage, and stomach, along with large welts and some cuts, clearly given from a belt.
tears rolled unashamedly down eddie's face as he looked up at richie. "are you mad at me?" he whimpered.
richie blinked back into focus. "did your mom do this to you too?"
eddie sobbed, nodding. "y-yeah... but i deserve it! i'm not good enough. she does it to help me, i s-swear!" eddie rambled.
richie quickly shook his head, tears pricking his eyes as well. "no eds, no. you can't think like that. she's your mother, not a boxing opponent!"
eddie sobbed, leaning into richie's chest. richie tried to find somewhere to put his hands that wasn't covered in bruises. he finally settled with wrapping his fingers in eddie's hair.
     "it's ok bubs. it might not feel like it now, but it will be," richie soothed.  
     eddie sniffled. "i k-know."
     richie smiled softly at him. "let's get you into bed, ok? or do you want a shower first?"
     "i'm sleepy, but, uhh, will you stay with me? please?" eddie looked up at him with puppy dog eyes.
     "of course bubs. oh," he said, looking down at eddie's soaked jeans he was still wearing. "hang on."
     he turned to his dresser, shuffling through an already open drawer. he pulled out a pair of old sweatpants that he'd grown out of years ago but still kept them, specifically for eddie.
     "thank you," eddie said, taking the pants from richie.
     he stood up, and unbuttoned his jeans. he glanced over at richie, who sat on the bed, looking at him. eddie gulped before slowly pulling off his jeans.
     his thighs were as bad as his torso, if not worse.
     richie winced, before realizing the scratchy material of the joggers probably wouldn't be best for eddie's skin.
"would you like a pair of shorts instead?" he inquired.
eddie nodded. "please. if it's not too much trouble."
richie pulled open another drawer; this one was more spare, filled with the few summer clothes he didn't grow out of. at the bottom, he saw eddie's iconic red shorts. eddie had left them after their last sleepover, the night after defeating pennywise.
he turned around, handing them to eddie, who paused for a long moment, looking at them. he snapped back, grabbing them from richie and pulling them up his waist.
"i forgot about these," eddie whispered to himself as the two boys climbed into richie's bed.
"you used to wear them all the time," richie breathed.
"i miss it."
"i know. so do i bubs."
the two boys laid silently for a while, just enjoying the other's company, which they hadn't had since late july.
"eds?" richie asked quietly after a while.
"yeah 'chee?"
"how many times have you went to the clubhouse to sleep?"
eddie's eyebrows scrunched together, and he held up one finger, signaling richie to give him a minute. "uhh, i dunno, like, ten or twelve times. i only go there when she brings out the bat... i didn't get so lucky today," he whispered, gesturing to his thighs.
richie was struck into silence. a bat. a fucking baseball bat. somebody was hurting his eddie with a fucking baseball bat, and lord knew what else.
"richie?" eddie asked timidly.
richie blinked down at eddie with watery eyes. "you know my front door is always open, right?" he whispered raggedly. "you-you can come here whenever you need. every day if you need to. hell, you can stay forever if you'd like."
    richie pulled eddie into a hug, crushing eddie into his chest. eddie winced, but he didn't mind too much. physical affection was nice; he didn't realize how much he'd missed it. he buried his face into richie's chest before speaking.
"oh, richie, it's really not that bad... besides, my mom needs me," eddie explained, shocked to find tears pricking his own eyes.
"not that bad? eds, have you seen yourself lately?" richie cried.
to much surprise, eddie curiously shook his no. "my mom took away all my mirrors..."
"eddie," richie breathed, hopping from the bed, grabbing eddie's hands. "come in here."
     eddie allowed himself to be pulled from the warm bed, and he followed richie into his bathroom, gasping when he saw his reflection.
     his skin was pale and waxy, and he really was covered head to toe in bruises.
"o-oh," eddie breathed as another wave of tears washed over him.
he let out a soft sob, crumpling to the floor. richie caught him before he could totally collapse, picking his up and cradling him to his chest.
"shh shh, it's okay. i've got you. i'm right here," richie breathed.
     eddie clung to richie's t-shirt, sobbing harder. "i'm s-so sorry!" he cried.
     "shh honey," richie soothed.
     richie placed eddie back in his bed, pulling the plush comforter around eddie's shaking body.
     "so y-you don't care if i s-stay here with y-you?" eddie asked through the sobs.
     "no, i don't. and my parents won't either," richie consoled eddie.
     eddie let out a shaky, relieved breath.
    "so does that mean you're gonna stay?" richie asked, willing the excitement in his voice to stay down. 
     "i think so, but if you get tired of me, i'll go h-"
     his sentence was cut short by richie pulling him into a bone crushing hug. eddie bit his lip to keep a cry of pain at bay from where richie pressed against the bruises on his body.
     richie glanced at eddie's face, quickly releasing his grip. "sorry eddie!" he cried.
     "s'okay," eddie hissed through clenched teeth.
     richie placed his hand on eddie's cheek, brushing his thumb back and forth across eddie's cheekbone.
     eddie blinked heavily as the darkness of sleep began to take over. he wrapped his thin fingers around richie's even thinner wrist so he wouldn't move.
     richie moved closer to eddie, placing their foreheads together, but still kept his hand where it was.
     "please don't leave me, ok?" eddie meekly begged.
     "i wouldn't dream of it," richie whispered back. "just close your eyes, and i promise i'll be right here when you open them again."

     and he was.