5SOS

C O M I N G S O O N

when Eddie Kaspbrak moves to Derry permanently, Richie Tozier takes quite the interest in him.

it’s safe to say, Sonia Kaspbrak disapproves of the boy her son met in detention.

Pretty Boys Don’t Come Around Here Often — Reddie and Stanlon

1800s au

reddie meet at school & stanlon risk their lives to be with one another.

summary — the three times richie and eddie hold hands, and the one time they talk about it.

pairing — reddie

warnings — implied homophobia

↠

The first time it happened was in Richie Tozier’s first year of highschool. He could not remember the details — even if he tried to. What he could remember was the sun shining brightly onto his shorter friend’s freckled face, forcing pretty shadows onto his cheeks. Richie’s fingers drumming nervously on his jean-covered thigh while his other hand scribbled meaningless words onto his work book.

“Relax, Rich. It’s just homework,” Eddie muttered, their shoulders bumping nonchalantly while their backs were leaning against the back wall of the overcrowded highschool. “Do you need help?”

Richie stared at the english questions neatly written in black ink with a frown sewn into his sorrow features. “I didn’t- I didn’t even read the fucking book!” He blurts, chucking the homework onto the grass beneath their feet in frustration. Eddie sighed, his brown eyes noticing Richie’s drumming fingers.

“Stop that,” He muttered, Richie took no notice in his wishes. “Come on, Rich. You’re just being anxious, it’s not a big deal…”

Ignoring Eddie, he slipped his glasses off his face; rubbing his free fingers into the brown eyes hidden underneath the thick frames. “You can copy mine, if you promise to do the work next time.”

A smile blossomed on Richard Tozier’s face, Eddie’s heart swelling at the beaming sight. Unfortunately, his fingers continued drumming— which meant he was still nervous, it was a habit that Eddie picked up on during January. “That’s not what you’re really nervous about… is it?”

Hesitantly, Richie shrugged. The small action causing Eddie to grab his drumming hand and press their palms together, their fingers entwining easily despite without any practice. Richie stared at their joined hands. “What’s really wrong, Richie?”

“I think I like boys.”

“That’s okay, so do I.” Subconsciously, Richie tightened his grip on Eddie’s soft, sanitizer hands. “Everyone’ll still love you, promise.”

↠

The second time it happens is a freezing day during the winter months, Eddie Kaspbrak sits in Richie’s messy bedroom — silently admiring the countless posters hung on each wall, the various CDs laid in the corner with precision and care, even the porn magazines hidden beneath his unmade bed made Eddie feel something new in his heart. Everything in that heated bedroom was so Richie Tozier, and it make complete sense.

Yells downstairs filled Eddie’s ears, cautiously, he looked to Richie who was typing rapidly on his phone; apparently unfazed by the screams from the Tozier parents. “Who ya’ texting?”

“Beverly,” Richie muttered halfheartedly, not looking up to meet the boy’s saddened gaze. “She wants to come over later. You cool with that?”

Eddie furrows his brows in a mixture of confusion and frustration. “Do you like Beverly?” He’s blurting the words without thinking, and his cheeks turn a deep maroon which in any other scenario, Richie would have called adorable. Instead of the sweet pinches or exclamations of ‘Cute, cute, cute!’ Richie looks at him in horror. “I mean, you don’t have to tell me or anything. It’s just you hang out with her a lot now and—“

“I definitely don’t like Beverly,” Richie confirms with a high-pitched laugh. Eddie nods, oblivious to the way the dark-haired teenager was moving closer to him in the most nonchalant way possible. “Do you… uhm, like anyone?”

“Not really, don’t see the point in risking my heart for an unrequited love.”

Richie tilts his head, bumping their knees together at the end of the bed. “How do you know it’d be unrequited?”

The smaller boy shrugs sadly, his fingers on his thighs as he stared at his lap to avoid the pitiful gaze of his best friend, “No boy would ever like me Richie, what could they possibly find attractive about a short asthmatic idiot?”

Slowly, Richie rests his hand atop of Eddie’s. Neither move. “I think there’s more to you than being short and asthmatic.”

Eddie giggles shyly, another red colour lacing itself into his cheeks as Richie mingles their fingers together properly; much like how they had the first time. Perfect, yet so unprepared. “Thank you, Richie Tozier,” Eddie mutters.

Richie smiles, pressing a chaste kiss to the boy’s embarrassed cheeks. The usual tan colour only goes redder, as though his lips burned the skin in the sweetest way possible. “By the way, you’re definitely not an idiot Eddie Kaspbrak.”

↠

It was a week after their talk of crushes when Richie Tozier was kicked out of his home. The sixteen-year-old stared at the smirking door after it was closed in his face, his too-small of a bag swaying in his left hand. All he wanted to do was curl up and cry.

His mother, Maggie Tozier, was a traditional sort of lady. Her remarkable dresses, and pretty sentences were something her son had always looked up to when he was younger; but as he stands outside his old house with the raindrops landing on his curly hair, he can’t help but think of how much a terrible mother she truly was.

The woman had always showed disgust towards homosexuality, which had been why Richie was so anxious to tell Eddie back in grade seven. His father, Wentworth, was much more passive through it all; but when things go downhill— he shall always choose his wife over Richie. It was the way their family worked, Richie and Maggie argued? Wentworth on her side. Richie doesn’t come home over the weekend? Wentworth shall ground him because Maggie is too drunk to do so herself. It was the way their family worked.

Until, maybe Richie wasn’t in the family anymore. His mother, with her stupid traditional parenting styles, decided to snoop through Richie’s phone while he was sleeping only to find the countless messages send to Eddie and other past boys and maybe even some dirty talk. That was how he ended up kicked out of his own home, if you’d even call it that at this point.

“E-Eds?” Richie whispered through the phone, his cheeks wet with unnoticed tears. “Can you- Can you come pick me up? Please?” He squeaked, his clothes becoming more than damp from the angry clouds above him.

Eddie agreed immediately, showing up outside of the Tozier Residence with his mother’s abandoned car not even five minutes after. “Richie!” He called, jumping out of the vehicle without a second thought; despite Sonia’s voice in his mind begging him to not risk a cold. “Holy shit, what happened?”

Without even thinking too much of it, he grabbed Richie’s freezing hand and dragged him into the passenger seat of the car without any hesitance. When he got back into the driver’s seat, he linked their fingers once again. Richie halfheartedly circling his thumb in circles around Eddie’s palm.

“She- she kicked me out—“ a sob curses throughout his lanky body, more tears flowing past his pale face. Eddie almost wants to cry with him. “I-I don’t have anywhere else to-to stay!”

The smaller boy blinks away his own tears, reaching his other hand to Richie’s other one of his own. And there they sat, the sky crying just as much as Richie with both their hands together like a massive puzzle finally completed.

↠

“Why the fuck do you guys always do that?”

Richie and Eddie pull their attention away from each other to meet a certain redhead’s passionate eyes. Her lips are pulled into a tight streak of gloss, and her eyes seem more blue than usual. Both the boy’s cheeks flush. “Do what, Bev?” Richie inquires obliviously.

Beverly points to their touching shoulders, and the way Richie’s hand is casually sitting on Eddie’ exposed thigh. There’s no reason to be sitting so close, there’s plenty of space on their side of the booth. Well, maybe there is a reason.

“We just like platonic affection,” Eddie mutters awkwardly, his freckled cheeks still red. Beverly rolls her eyes playfully, and Richie keeps his serious face on. “Seriously! I mean, we’re friends. Is that so bad?”

A ludicrous laugh escapes her glossy lips, their cheeks go even redder. “Okay, if you’re just friends— kiss.”

Both of them gape at the suggestion. Truthfully, Richie Tozier dreams of meeting Eddie’s lips with his own; but just as the opposite boy said, friends. Friends don’t kiss. “Why would we do that?”

“Because you’re just friends, right? To prove there’s no romantic feelings. It’s just a kiss, nothing should change if—“

In a swift motion, Eddie grabs the taller boy’s chin, turning his head in the process to press the lightest of kisses on his mouth. Richie thinks he might be blushing from his toes to the back of his neck. “See? Friends,” He squeaks, unconvincingly.

Beverly giggles, pushing her body up from the table with her hands. “Whatever you say, boys.”

She leaves, and the two are left alone.

“You didn’t actually have to kiss me, you know… we don’t need to prove anything,” Richie says after an uncomfortable amount of silence. “I hope you didn’t feel pressured or anything,” he adds as an afterthought.

Eddie’s face falls as he stares at Richie. “You really didn’t want to kiss me, then? I just thought… never mind.” Richie is not the only one who dreams of their best friends lips.

“No, tell me. Please, Eds. I won’t- I won’t laugh.”

The smaller boy shifts away from Richie, avoiding his taunting yet soft stare. “Maybe she’s right. I mean, why do we sit so close all the time? Why do we hold hands? Why- why do we always hang out alone even if the others are free? I mean, I don’t know. Like I said when we were sixteen, unrequited crushes. This is why I don’t—“

Richie kisses him again. It quiets him immediately.

“We do all that because maybe we aren’t just friends, Eds,” he admits quietly, smiling as Eddie kisses him a third time and at that moment, Richie Tozier realises he likes holding hands — specifically Eddie’s. But he enjoys kissing him much, much more.

TJ: Yes, I do.

Rabbi: And do you, Cyrus Goodman, take TJ Kippen to be your husband, promising to cherish and protect him, whether in good fortune or in adversity, and to seek together with him a life hallowed by the faith of Israel?

Cyrus: Yes, I do.

asher, winking: okay terri i’ll stop

terri: no asher i’m serious disney gave us tyrus

asher, still winking: it’s okay terri. i know what you’re trying to tell me

the boy with a secret

chapter one — ‘normality’

summary: Eddie loves his friend and Richie makes a not so good impression on the class during his first day

warnings: implied racism & violence

↳

Richie Tozier stands in the middle of an unfamiliar environment with his leather bag thrown over his shoulder lazily, his curly hair falling in his crystal-eyes messily. A crowd of fellow students surround him, entirely interested in his past travels and how he ended up in the small — and poor— town of Derry for some reason.

Quite truthfully, Richie does not even know himself, embarrassingly enough. He would rather get frostbite and die than tell anyone that, though, he thinks he’ll take that secret to the grave.

“Is England nice? Did you get to meet the Queen? That would be brilliant, to meet the Queen.”

”How do you travel so much? Are you rich?”

“Where else have you been? Have you gone to France? New York?”

“I’d faint if I got to go to Paris, I mean, think of all the art! Oh my—“

The new boy laughed over top their excited voices, silencing them quickly. Easily, he ran his fingers through his dark hair and grinned at the group of interested strangers. “I’ll answer all your questions with two, simple words. Probably not. Sorry to disappoint, ladies.”

A gross boy in the corner, with ugly long hair and blue eyes snorted. Richie stared at him with a raised brow, “Course not. You’re not any better than the rest of us,” he remarked. “I mean, seriously? You look as poor as they come.”

“Yet you are as poor as they come,” Richie responded; the words leaving his mouth without a second to spare and think of the foolish statements.

“You talk a lot, city boy. If you’re so humble, why don’t you tell us why you’re here?”

Richie squinted his own blue eyes, taking a step closer to the cocky boy. “Being humble, is the world’s greatest gift. Perhaps you should try it,” Richie pushed his finger into the boy’s chest, where an expensive pocket watch laid, tucked into his broader chest while ignoring the general question.

“Perhaps you should get your hands off me, sissy.”

Slowly, Richie crossed his arms over his chest and straightened his posture to seem more intimidating. “And if I don’t? What are you gonna do? Tell your daddy to come get me? I’m not scared of—“

Without a second to prepare, a harsh thrust of a fist collides against Richie’s jaw. The once excited students erupt into gasps or screams, some both, but the violent boy simply walks to his desk, leaving Richie rubbing his —soon to bruise— jaw in pain. The teacher, who had been speaking to the younger kids outside, does not bat an eye at the injured newcomer; instead starting class.

Fantastic Richie thinks, Already hate this school. How lucky for me he daydreams the rest of the day of a better life without such cowardly troubles.

↳

In the winter months, Edward Kaspbrak enjoys spending a lot of time in the barn near his home rather than school. It’s calming, and the certain boy who works for Sonia Kaspbrak there definitely makes his heart feel a little lighter during the colder times of the year. Michael Hanlon, with his kind smile and pretty brown eyes are what keep Eddie grounded when his mother makes him want to fly. Mike Hanlon was like an angel sent from Heaven. His personal angel, if you will.

An angel who shovels hay. Eddie watches him on a Monday in winter. “This is completely absurd! She makes me miss school because of the snow, but doesn’t care one bit for you and makes you continue working in this weather! Ridiculous,” scoffs the Kaspbrak boy. He was sitting atop the ladder which separated upper and downstairs of the small barn. Mike smiled fondly at the floor because of his friend’s frustrated words. “What if you got frostbite? I mean, she’s a horrid woman, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she pushed you to that point. Makes me wonder how I’m even her son.”

Eddie wondered that a lot, surprisingly. It was a common thought in his overcrowded head, and while he watched Mike sweep in his dirty flannel clothing and overworked posture, Eddie truly wondered how.

“Eddie, may I ask you something?” Mike requests politely, turning his sweaty body to face the white boy sitting above him. With a hesitant nod on Eddie’s part, he continued: “What’s at the school which you miss so much that it makes you speak so lowly of your own blood?”

A blush colour covered Eddie’s entire face. Timidly, he looked away to avoid confrontation. It was always strange to him, admitting things to a boy who would listen. “I- I just,” breathe in. “All the other children don’t miss out because of the risks of illness from the cold. It frustrates me that I do,” breathe out.

Mike frowned, pity laced into his handsome features. “So; you miss the normality which your school gives you?”

Eddie nodded eagerly, normality he supposed he did miss that. A whole lot. The knowledge that he wasn’t any different from other classmates during summer or spring. “Thank you, Mike, your words are always relieving to hear.”

The hired man shrugged in appreciation from the compliment, a smile spreading across his soft-looking face. “Anytime, Eddie,” Mike replied sweetly. Eddie went to make a jump down from the ladder when a panicked yell from inside the Kaspbrak Residence coursed through the outside air and into both of the teenage boy’s ears.

At the barn entrance, stood Sonia Kaspbrak, she was shivering from the severe cold. Serves her right Eddie thinks. Her old-age lines looked deeper on her face than her son remembered from only an hour prior, and her lips were pressed into a tight streak of red from stress. Or fear. Maybe both. She was wearing a dress that reached the floor, and it would definitely be dirty by the time she got back inside her home. Another thing to complain about.

“Afternoon, Ma,” Eddie squeaked.

“Edward Kaspbrak!”

Eddie nibbled on the side of his lip nervously, finally leaping off the spot in the upper area of the barn with ease. He had practice doing so. “I know that you said not to interfere with Michael’s work but we were just talking and I was ever so bored inside the house with nothing to do so considering Stanley won’t be giving me my school work till after school, so I thought that maybe—“

Harshly, Sonia grabbed her fourteen-year-old son’s ear. “Is the slave boy corrupting you, Edward? Don’t give his terrible behaviour any kind of nonsense excuses.”

Eddie looked back at Mike, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion and disgust because of his mother, fortunately. Mike looked bored, and slightly annoyed. “Slaveboy? Mike isn’t a slave! He’s my friend!” One of the only ones, too.

Sonia rolled her mean eyes, pulling the lanky boy out of the barn in a swift and stressed manner. She didn’t pursue her interest in arguing until they were back in the house, and even then she didn’t seem to have much to say.

Sonia stared at her son in the clean kitchen. “Edward, you worried me so dearly. I thought you ran away! That black boy is not someone to befriend. All his kind will ever be useful for is working to better the better part of humanity, understand?”

“I don’t understand! I can’t be his friend because of the colour of his skin? That- That’s ludicrous!” He argued, his cheeks turning red from his passionate anger. Sonia looked shocked at the remark, tears building in her eyes. “I’m going to my room. I’ll skip supper if that’s alright, mother,” concluded the boy from her silent state. Sonia stayed frozen, an almost paralysed state. Their discussion went no further.

Lucky me Eddie thinks for the rest of the night before venturing to his dreams of a better life without a cowardly mother.

Cyrus Goodman (Andi Mack)

Will Byers (Stranger Things)

He gets to go to art school and is opened up to all the various kinds of art and wants to try them all.

Because of the clay his hand gets stronger and he can hold the pencil better. Thanks to Josephine he now has a colored pencil kit or maybe he takes up painting and has a glorious collection of paint.

He and Josephine go to lavish parties all the time where he meets other boys his age that are like him.

Maybe he falls in love with one of them and they steal kisses in a coat closet.

Cole to Phillips: “If you want to hate someone, you should look in the mirror.”

Gil to Phillips again: “And I managed to learn that with no extra time from you.” *bitch-try-me-head-nod*

Bash in Anne’s place: “Oh, what a lovely home. Nice and warm.”

Marilla to Rachel: “I should remember why I invited you along, oh that’s right, I didn’t.”

Josie: “What’s wrong with you? Don’t you like girls or something?” Cole: “I don’t like you.”

Gilbert: Gather up the courage to admit I’m in love with you.

Anne: ... What?

Friend: it’s 4am I WILL KNOCK YOU OUT I SWEAR