#bovaque

Richie gasped as he stopped himself from tripping over his shoelaces, heart racing at almost dropping the one thing he was allowed to be in charge of. What’s a birthday party without cake? This baby would definitely get to the apartment in one piece. He struggled with the door once he got to the front door, using his leg to balance the cake as he turned the door knob and let himself in. 

He squinted through the darkness, finding it odd that no one was there yet. He was the one that was late after all. Before he could yell out and ask if anyone was there, the lights suddenly turned on and he was surrounded by various voices yelling “SURPRISE” at him. He gasped, dropping the cake in his shocked state and everything went quiet. 

He looked around at all the faces of his friends around him, wide-eyed and beginning to sweat. Not only was he late, but now he had dropped and ruined Eddie’s birthday cake before he even had a chance to blow out the candles and make a wish.

“What the hell Richie!” Groaned Bev as she rushed over to inspect the cake. He watched in silence as she opened the box and dropped her head with a sigh. “It’s no good, it’s ruined.”

She looked up again to glare at him and he glared right back at her. How was this his fault? They were the ones that surprised him! “Excuse me but in what world do I look even remotely like Eds? This is on you guys, I’m just the cake messenger.”

“We’d given up on you showing on time,” Stan chimed in. “Eddie should have been home by now so of course we thought it was him and not you!”

Richie checked his watch, confirming the time. Stan was right, Eddie really should have been here by now. He was always on time to everything, even coming home from work. It was this predictability that Richie loved about him. It was a constant he found comfort in. “Huh…You’re right, where is the birthday boy?”

Without waiting for an answer, Richie took out his phone, searching for Eddie’s name and pressing the call button. As the phone continued to ring, a growing panic began to build up within Richie. Eddie always answered his phone before the second ring. Something definitely had to be wrong. “He’s not answering.”

“Maybe he just got held up at work,” Ben suggested despite not believing it himself. Taking out his own phone, he continued on to say, “I’ll give them a call and ask if they know anything.”

Richie nodded and made his way to Eddie’s room on instinct as he dialed Eddie’s phone again. He paused, about to turn around and go to his room when he heard it. A faint buzzing noise coming from Eddie’s room. Richie furrowed his eyebrows confused as to why there would be any noise coming from his best friend’s room. Slowly, he opened the room, peeking into the darkness and shoving an arm into the room, feeling for the light switch on the wall.

He wasn’t an idiot, you never go into a dark room to investigate an out of place noise without first turning on the fucking lights. When he heard a groan he pushed the door open the rest of the way and barged in, going straight to Eddie’s bed.

“Eds? Eds, are you okay??” Richie asked, panic evident in his voice as he knelt down to look over Eddie. He was sweating, cheeks flushed red and hair sticking to his forehead. Had he stayed home alone this whole time? He probably hadn’t eaten or taken anything this whole time. “You dumbass, why didn’t you call me??”

“S-shut up” Eddie moaned out, squeezing his eyes shut and attempting to cover his face with his comforter. “G-get out! Turn the fucking lights off!”

“No way dude,” Richie answered, refusing to budge from his spot next to the bed. “I can’t believe you’ve been here this whole time and none one out there noticed.”

Richie sighed as Eddie grunted in response before violently coughing. “Okay, I’m gonna go get you some medicine and some fucking water too. You look dehydrated as fuck!” He moved to get up, but was stopped by a hand clutching onto his shirt. He paused, looking over to see Eddie looking at him with glassy eyes, a pleading look on his face. 

“Don’t-Don’t leave me Rich,” Eddie begged, pulling at his shirt to bring him back, closer to him. “Don’t leave me alone.”

Richie sighed, taking out his phone to text their group chat to bring some water and search for some medicine in their bathroom to give to Eddie. Once he was done, he leaned down to give him a quick kiss on the forehead as he ran a hand through Eddie’s sweaty hair. “I’m not going anywhere Eds. I’ll stay right here by your side.”

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