#reddiecore

 By ten PM, Ben had fallen asleep at the kitchen table, moments after the cake had been cut and served with seconds and thirds. Bill, Stan and Mike helped Ben to Mike’s room to sleep off the IPA’s Bill supplied (he’d only had four, but he was always a lightweight). Eddie poked at the crumbs of remaining cake on his and Richie’s shared plate.

 “I tried to tell him to take it easy tonight,” Bev began to speak, eyes following Stan keeping Ben balanced out of the kitchen.

 “But the boy just wants to party hard.” She smiled, turning her attention to Eddie. 

 “The cake was amazing, by the way. I’ve never had a peach pound cake,” Eddie blushed, dropping his fork on the plate. “I could eat that for the rest of my life.”

 “Hey, I made the cake, too!” Richie chimed in, feigning hurt that Bev ignored his help in the production. Eddie gave him a poke in the ribs with his elbow, Bev chuckling at the interaction.

 “Thank you, Bev. I can give you the recipe if you’d like. I made a few tweaks, but I can write those down, too.” Eddie smiled at Bev, pushing his chair back to stand up in search of a pen and paper. Richie followed suit behind him, the chairs legs scraping on the linoleum.

 “Speaking of peaches,” Richie pointed to Eddie’s ass, smirking, earning a cheap snort from Bev. “This plum’s gonna have a smoke.” He announced, walking out of the kitchen and into the living room.

 “If anyone cares to join their dear friend, I’ll be in the back.” Mike reappeared with Bill hot on his heels. Bev stood up to follow the boys, nudging Eddie as she passed behind him as a way of saying “join us”. He finished scribbling ingredients down and grabbed a bottle of water before rejoining with his friends outside.

 The aroma of shitty weed made Eddie scrunch up his nose upon first contact, his lungs feeling a little heavy, too. He watch Bev hand Bill a lighter as he made his way over to stand next to Richie. He smiled up at his best friend, earning a smile and a wink back in return. Eddie was grateful that the backyard was dark and wouldn’t expose his flushed face and ears. He heard the click of the lighter and watched Bill take a long hit from the joint in between his lips. Bill smiled as he exhaled, passing it to Mike. Then Mike to Bev, then Stan came outside to join them and took two hits before passing it to Richie. Feeling like time was going by oddly fast, Eddie took a step back, watching as Richie held the blunt between his long, nimble fingers, taking the longest drag yet. However, as soon as Richie pulled it away from his lips, Eddie felt everything go in slow motion.

 The cloud of smoke coming out from Richie’s nose, only to be sucked back in through pursed lips shouldn’t have made him appear more attractive to Eddie, but somehow it did. Butterflies wrestled through Eddie’s stomach and up to his chest, swarming around his heart before settling in his throat.

 “Is today the day, Ed’s?” Richie asked, holding the damn thing out to Eddie. He shook his head and pushed it back towards Richie.

 “Sorry, I don’t want your cooties.” Richie snorted at Eddie’s retort, passing it back to Bev. She took one last hit, motioning to Bill to come over to her. He obliged, and Eddie tried to look away as he parted his lips, close enougb to kiss Bev, as she blew the smoke into his mouth. The interaction made Eddie feel anxious but curious, having seen them do this a million times but still coming as a shock every time.

 The night had winded down from there. Bill fell asleep on Mike’s couch as soon as his high kicked in, which was Mike’s cue to call it a night. Stan stayed up a while longer, chatting with Bev and Eddie (and ignoring Richie, who kept trying to get Stan to moon Ben and Mike, who were both asleep in Mike’s room, for a keepsake photo opportunity), before falling asleep himself on the couch next to Bill.

 “Ready to make like a banana and split, my dear friend?” Richie asked Eddie as soon as Bev had joined Stan and Bill to make a trio of couch sleepers. Eddie had started to yawn, and nodded to Richie who was shaking Bill awake to let him know they were heading out. Bill planted a kiss on Richie’s cheek before erupting infinity quite giggles. He waved as they left the front door of the Hanlon residence.

 Eddie wasn’t even close to being tipsy, a stark contrast to Richie who was crossfaded and giggly, and took on the role of navigator for their walk home. Eddie walked behind Richie, watching from the sidewalk as his friend tried and failed to walk a straight line in the gutter. The back of Richie’s head was bobbing up and down with his steps, curls bouncing with his body. It amazed Eddie that he hadn’t fallen down yet. He smiled as Richie tried to walk the line again, feeling grounded and warm that they got to share these moments together.

 The walk wasn’t particularly long or far, but Eddie had lead them on the scenic route, trying to milk the amount of time he could have with Richie before they’d pass out from exhaustion. He was back to feeling like time was passing too quickly, although this time was due to being deep in thought about how much he cared about Richie, how much he loved him in every sense of the word.

 The butterflies in his chest were gone, now replaced with angry wasps making a nest in his heart. He thought about college, how he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to try and attend a university because community college was pretty decent. But the loudest thought (pun intended) bubbling in his brain was that maybe he did want to get high tonight, and maybe he did want Richie’s cooties. But he also didn’t want to say this to Richie and make him think that Eddie only felt this way because of their friendship, that his feelings were a buffer to hold him over until he met someone who deserved him. Before he could expand the idea mentally, Richie spoke up, breaking Eddie’s train of thought.

 “Hey, Ed’s,” Richie pulled Eddie’s sleeve, turning to face the smaller boy.

 “Are you scared of vampires?” Richie asked, his tone so serious that Eddie couldn’t help but laugh. He kept walking, but Richie, anchored in the asphalt, held him back.

 “I’m serious, are you?” He asked again, Eddie’s expression dropping from content to cross.

 “No, Rich. I’m not scared of vampires. Why are you even thinking of th- OUCH!” Eddie cried out, confused because Richie had just lunged at him, sinking his teeth into Eddie’s neck. “What the fuck, Richie?!” Eddie shoved Richie’s hold on his arm off, staring at him in a jaded disbelief.

 “You said you weren’t scared of vampires, and I may be a lil drunk, but I wanned to see if you were scared of me ’cause I’m a vampire now.” Richie’s words were slightly slurred, and his logic was flawed, but Eddie could see something in Richie’s eyes, an emotion that he couldn’t make out. They seemed to say “don’t be mad at me”, with a hint of “I need you to give me attention”, which in turn kick started the anxious feeling inside Eddie once again.

 “Oh shit, you’re bleeding, oh shit,” Richie launched back at his friend, gently pressing two fingers to the small pool of blood above Eddie’s collarbone.

 “WHAT?!?” Eddie panicked, pushing Richie away again, feeling his neck for himself to discover the tiniest wet spot. There couldn’t have been more than a pinhead of blood actually coming from the world's smallest cut. Relieved that he wasn’t bleeding bleeding, he picked up his pace, walking with a little more urgency, Richie following.

 “I’m sorry, Ed’s. I’m really sorry, I was just trying to be funny,” Richie apologized from behind Eddie. Normally, when apologizing for “being funny”, Richie was not truly sorry. But his tone this time around sounded sincere. If Eddie could compare it to anything, it would be the tone a guilty dog would use if he could apologize to his owners for knocking over the fish tank if said dog could talk. It made his stomach tighten up.

 “Rich, it’s okay. It’s a tiny cut, and I’m not really bleeding at all.” Eddie tried to sound soft, to show that he wasn’t angry, but his words came out more sad than anything. “I’m not mad at you, I think I’m just kind of… in shock, I guess, that you did that.” He sounded even more uncertain. He reached out to touch Richie’s shoulder as an act of forgiveness.

 “Once I get it cleaned up I’ll be fine. I promise.” His smile matched his eyes, and Richie lit up a bit. Eddie beamed, earning a giggle from his friend, and in that moment Richie looked absolutely angelic to him. The street light illuminated the taller boys face, highlighting every imperfection that Eddie secretly loved looking at, and bringing a sparkle to Richie’s eyes. Eddie looked away when he felt blood rush to his cheeks, guiding them up the block silently.

 Originally, Richie had planned on staying at Mike’s with the rest of the guys, but changed his mind after hearing Eddie mention that his mother didn’t want him to sleep over if there were going to be girls at the party. Somehow, he had convinced Eddie to come and stay at his house because there wouldn’t be girls and Sonia somehow agreed. It wasn’t until the two had made it to Richie’s house that it came up.

 “I just realized, you could’ve lied all along and said that you were gonna stay at my place from the beginning. She’d be none the wiser.” Richie whispered as the two of them made their way up to his room. His parents were in bed and the lights were off. Eddie followed him up the stairs, not speaking until they were in his room.

 “I guess.” Came Eddie’s response, quiet and soft.

 “Here, let me get an alcohol wipe or something to clean your neck with.” Richie rushed to get the words out. Not waiting for a response from Eddie, he turned on his heel, back out the door and into the bathroom. Eddie had left an emergency first aid kit under the sink years ago, insisting that it was for Richie’s own good, that he’d be prepared if he fell off his bike.

 Richie flipped the light switch on, glancing at himself in the mirror above the sink, taking in his appearance. Bags under his eyes, shaggy unkempt hair with a touch of fizz. He looked haggard from partying. He shook his head and opened the cabinet to get the first aid kit concluding that it didn’t matter if he looked like shit because Eddie was there to sleep, like he had time and time again in the past. This was no different. He flipped the light off before rounding the door and practically sprinting back to his room.

 Eddie was standing in the same spot, still as a statue. Richie cleared his throat before closing the bedroom door behind him. Eddie jumped, startled, turning to face Richie.

 “Rich, it’s fine. It doesn’t hurt, it stopped bleeding forever ago.” Eddie reached for the first aid kid despite his words. Richie opened it himself, grabbing an alcohol wipe and packet of hydrocortisone, holding them between his teeth as he set the small box down on his bedside table, out of the way.

 “C’mon. I got it, it’s fine.” Eddie nodded at his friend, stepping closer to him, hoping that Richie wouldn’t notice his rapid heartbeat and breathing pattern.

 Richie took the packages out from his teeth. Opening the wipe first, he lightly tugged Eddie closer to him, giving it a quick rub (a wince from Eddie at how cold the cloth felt on his skin) before doing the same with the cortisone. He swallowed hard, as did Eddie as he pulled his hand away from his neck, dropping the packets into a trashcan opposite his nightstand.

 “All better.” Richie’s voice cracked. “Doctor Tozier completes another successful surgery!” His voice doesn’t recover, shame tugging at his tongue. Eddie cracked a toothless smile, more present in his eyes than lips.

 “Thank you.” Eddie took a step back, cold air rushing around Richie as he moved. His voice was soft and silky and continued to ring in Richie’s ears as he walked to the far end of the room.

 It made Richie’s stomach do weird things, his voice. The voice Eddie used when it was just the two of them wasn’t something new, he’d been using it forever. And it had tied Richie’s stomach in knots just as long.

 Richie changed into pajamas after taking everything out of his pants pockets, back to Eddie as he did the same. They’d sit in Richie’s bed and talk about random shit, classes and stupid people they’ve met. It was routine. It all was, down to them laying down next to each other, back to back, waiting for alcohol tainted sleep to take over. He’d fall asleep after Eddie, feeling safe only when soft snores and deep breaths were the only sounds he could hear. He prides himself on this routine, keeping him safe from doing anything regrettable. They’d been in this situation time and time before, and every morning they’d wake up the same. Richie was on the brink of sleep when he felt Eddie roll over to face him. This isn’t routine.

 “Rich, are you still awake?” Eddie’s voice was like silk, a little deeper than usual. Richie’s eyes shot open, while the rest of his body was frozen.

 “I… I think I did want tonight to be the night.” Eddie whispered, lack of context making Richie shoot up.

 “W-what?!” Was all he could muster out, blood rushing from his hands and legs, going tingly.

 “The night I got high for the first time.” Eddie was even quieter, and Richie slid back down onto his pillows in relief (it was secretly disappointment). Ah.

 “Oh. Okay.” Richie responded, a pregnant pause causing his nerves to act up again. He tried to level out his breathing as sly as possible.

 “Richie,” Eddie spoke, breaking the silence. He shifted his position, leaning on his left arm and looking into Richie’s eyes. “Will you get me high?” The question sent shivers down Richie’s spine, and he couldn’t sit up fast enough (whether it be fear or excitement he couldn’t tell).

 “How do you want to do this?” Richie croaked out, voice rough with sleep he hadn’t gotten. He pulled the shared blanket over his lap, bunching it up just in case his hormones betrayed him. There was another pause as Eddie thought it over.

 “Do you want a bowl? A rip from the bong? A baby joint?” Richie offered what he had to Eddie, waiting for him to make a decision.

 “Can you do what Bev did to Bill that one time?” Eddie asked meekly, his eyes traveling to a loose thread on the blanket. Richie blinked. And blinked again.

 “You… you wanna shotgun?” He asked, not quite meek but not quite hopeful. Eddie kept his gaze down, nodding.

 “Yeah, I guess. Bev said it’s not as bad.” Shyly, Eddie looked up at Richie, cheeks flushed and eyes dewy. Richie modded a few times to himself.

 “Yeah. Okay. Yeah.” Richie leaned over to his nightstand, one foot on the floor for balance, opening the drawer and pulling out his rolling tray, papers, flower, and grinder neatly sitting on top of it. He could feel Eddie watch his every move, nose scrunching up at the smell as soon as Richie opened the dimebag of pot. Mindlessly, he put a little in the grinder, getting a paper when he was ready, and rolled (in Eddie’s mind) a perfect joint. He put everything back in its place on the tray before putting it back in the drawer, pulling out a lighter and old dirty ashtray. He looked at Eddie again, catching his eyes to ask “are you sure?”. Eddie nodded, and watched as Richie lit up with shaky hands taking the first hit for himself.

 Eddie watched patiently as Richie inhaled deeply, shifting himself to lean against the backboard before exhaling, smoke drifting out his nose up into the room. He held the joint over the ashtray on his nightstand, ashing it. Eddie watched Richie’s Adam's Apple bob and he pulled the joint back to his lips, before inhaling whispering:

 “Come here.”

 Eddie scooted closer to Richie, heart racing not only because Eddie Kaspbrak was about do a drug (besides that placebo shit his mother had forced on him since his youth), but because he was going to have his lips mere millimeters away from Richie Tozier’s.

 Richie took a long drag, holding the joint in between the fingers of his left hand, his right reaching to cup Eddie’s cheek. He rubbed Eddie’s bottom lip with his thumb and leaned in, blowing the smoke between Eddie’s partially opened lips. If I lean any closer, I’d be kissing him, Richie thought.

 And as if Eddie was some sort of fucking mind reader, he leaned into Richie’s lips, kissing him. It felt natural, like he was meant to. He wrapped one arm around Richie’s neck, the other feeling around and grabbing hold in his hair. He could feel Richie smile into the kiss as he leaned over to put the joint out in the ashtray, pulling Eddie down with him, and back up. Richie pulled away for a moment smirking at Eddie.

 “You’re not supposed to blow it back into my mouth, dumbass.” Richie joked, hooking his left arm around Eddie’s waist. He smiled, Eddie smiled back, and before they could get back to their previous position, Eddie laughed.

 “Well maybe if you gave me instructions in the first place,” he started to poke, no malice behind his words. Richie laughed, leaning in to plant a kiss on his cheek, eyes heavy.

 “Honey, I’m a little stoned, I’m not trying to start an argument with you. Shut up and kiss me.”

 The next morning, Eddie woke up tangled in Richie's limbs, as he had numerous times before, but this was intentional. He felt lips on the back of his neck.

 “I’m sorry that you’re a little…uh… y'know.” Richie struggled to say bruised, but Eddie already knew, and he didn’t care. He turned over to face him, planting a lazy kiss on his best friends lips to shut him up.

 Richie rested his forehead against Eddie’s, reaching for a hand to intertwine his fingers with. Eddie opened his mouth to speak.

He did it all the time, visiting Richie. When the rest of the losers were busy or simply when he wanted to be out of the house, he would hang at the cinema and keep Richie company. Sometimes Richie would sneak him into movies if his supervisor wasn’t around or slip him a candy bar or a bucket of popcorn for free and if the place was really empty Richie would sometimes join him and they would watch a movie together and talked as loud as they liked. 

"It was good.” Eddie said, then grinned. “I beat Bill’s ass at street fighter and he had to pay for my ice cream.”

“That’s my Eds.” Richie said with a proud grin. Eddie’s cheeks flared up against his will. “You deserve a treat, pick anything you want.”

“You know what I want." 

Richie grinned, reaching for a package of Reese’s cups, Eddie’s favorite. He slid it over the counter with a wink. "I always know what you want Eds." 

Eddie rolled his eyes, unwrapping the candy and biting on it. He ignored Richie’s comment. "Slow day?" 

"More like fucking dead. You’re the third person to walk through those doors since I got here.” Richie groaned. In slow days like this, time seemed to pass even slower. “Are you here to see a movie?" 

Eddie shook his head, munching on his chocolate. "When Bill left I played a few more games but that got boring really fast so I thought I’d stop by.”

Richie offered Eddie a bright, smug smile. “Are you saying that I entertain you Eds?”

Eddie rolled his eyes, a smile threatening to break. “You amuse me at best.”

Richie grinned, pleased. “I’ll take that.” He said. “I’m really glad you came. I was one second away from bouncing off the walls.”

Eddie snorted, that didn’t come as a surprise. If he didn’t have anything to do, Richie tended to get antsy. “At what time do you get off?”

“Whenever you want baby.” Richie said with a leer. 

“Shut up.” Eddie said with an eye roll, taking a step away from the counter. “I’m leaving.”

“No! No Eds, come on.” Richie said, reaching for Eddie over the counter. “I don’t think I’ll make it if you leave. I’ll die of boredom.”

Eddie chuckled at his friend’s dramatics, not planning to leave at all. “Fine but only because I don’t have anything better to do.”

At that moment two girls walked in, tickets in hand and headed for the concession stand. Eddie recognized them from school, they were one or two years younger than them and they were obviously checking Richie out, giggling at his stupid jokes and whispering to each other when he had his back turned to them while filling up their popcorn bucket. Eddie tried not to glare but he only relaxed when the girls paid and left to go see their movie. 

When they disappeared behind the curtain, Richie was back with Eddie in an instant, leaning over the counter towards him and poking at the crease between Eddie’s eyebrows. “Don’t frown so much Eds, you’ll get wrinkles.”

Eddie schooled his features, blushing at being caught glaring at the girls, luckily for him Richie didn’t ask him what that was about. His arms were crossed over the counter and he was staring at Eddie intently, it made him fidget under his stare. “You⎯ uh. You didn’t tell me at what time your shift ends.” He asked, but Richie just stared at him with a funny look that Eddie couldn’t quite decipher. “Richie?”

“What? Sorry- I didn’t hear you.” Richie said, with a slight frown then he grinned and winked at Eddie. “I was too busy getting lost in your eyes.” Eddie reached over the register to swat at Richie’s head, while trying to will his cheeks to go back to their usual color. “Ow! What? I was just trying to seduce you!" 

Eddie rolled his eyes with a sigh. "You know Richie, if you put half the effort you put in trying to seduce me,” He said sarcastically and making air quotes with his fingers, “In flirting with girls like the ones who were just here instead, you might actually get a date.”

“Yeah, maybe except that I don’t want to date those girls, I want to date y⎯” Richie cut himself off but not fast enough. Eddie stared at him, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. “I mean⎯ uh. Hey, look, we’re almost out of⎯ uh. Gummy worms. I’ll be right back.” Richie rambled before disappearing into the backroom. 

Eddie stared at him and then at the door once it swung shut. His mind was going a mile a minute trying to make sense of what had just happened. There was no way Richie was about to say you as in I don’t want to date those girls I want to date you as in I want to date you Eddie. He was probably going to say your mom or something like that. Yeah, that made more sense. Except why would he stop himself or flee if that was all he was going to say?

“What the fuck?” Eddie muttered under his breath before ducking under the counter and following Richie, storming to the backroom. He needed to know how Richie planned to finish that sentence. 

He pushed the door open and it slammed against the wall, startling Richie who didn’t look like he had been looking for gummy worms but actually pacing around the small room, biting his nails. “Eds!” He said, voice coming out strangely high pitched. “Dude, we may be soulmates, but that does not mean you can just waltz in here like you own the place. I could have been naked or something.” He said with a laugh but it came out strained. 

Whatever Eddie had been planning to say died in his throat and he arched an eyebrow at Richie as the door swung shut behind him. “Soulmates? Richie what⎯ and why would you be naked in here? That makes no sense!”

Richie simply shrugged. “This backroom has seen a lot of things Eds and so have I, you don’t wanna know.”

Eddie opened his mouth to ask but thought better of it, shaking his head. “Whatever.” He said, he gave Richie a pointed look. “What was that back there?”

“What was what Eds?”

“Don’t play dumb with me Richie. What you said back there⎯” Richie gave him an innocent look and Eddie let out a frustrated groan. “You said you didn’t want to date those girls and then⎯ what were you going to say then?” 

Instead of answering Richie looked at the door, his only way out looking like he wanted to make a run for it. Eddie planted himself in front of the door, blocking him. Richie sighed, “Fuck.”

Eddie’s expression softened when he saw that Richie actually looked nervous and he approached him carefully, slowly. “Rich.”

“I was going to say I wanted to date you, not them.” Richie muttered under his breath but Eddie understood perfectly. He gulped, the hand that had been moving to touch Richie’s shoulder freezing in the space between them. “That’s why I flirt with you and not them. I mean I flirt with them a little I guess but not⎯ not like I do with you.”

“You⎯” Eddie frowned, genuinely confused. “Wait, you flirt with me? Like, for real?”

Richie let out a disbelieving laugh. “Pretty much since I met you Eddie, thanks for noticing.”

“But that was just you being you. Joking.”

“Yeah, no. I meant every word.” Richie said, hand hanging from his neck. 

“What the fuck?” Eddie muttered under his breath, distraught. How did he miss that?

Richie grimaced, stepping away from Eddie. “Listen you don’t⎯ we don’t have to talk about this we can just forget this happened and⎯”

“Shut up. I’m not⎯”

“Mad? You seem pretty mad.”

“I’m not mad at you, I’m mad at me for missing this.” He said, gesturing between them. 

“Okay?”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Eds I don’t know how I could be more obvious buddy. I just figured you didn’t feel the same way because you never said anything and⎯” His words were cut off by Eddie taking two long strides towards him and pulling him down by his neck, bringing their lips together. The angle was slightly off and he ended up pressing his mouth against Richie’s bottom lip and chin but he hoped it was enough to get the message across. Once Richie processed said message, he cradled Eddie’s face in his hands and angled his head right and then they were finally kissing, for real. They only broke apart when someone rang the bell on the concession stand, the sound traveling through the door to their ears. 

They stared at each other, blinking. “I⎯ I should get out there.” Richie said and Eddie nodded. “My shift ends in less than an hour though. Maybe⎯ if you want to wait, we can get dinner together? After?”

“Okay.” Eddie said and the bell chimed again. “Go, before they come here looking for us.”

“I’ll let you know when the coast is clear.” Richie said opening the door just a crack, blocking Eddie from view. Before slipping through, he turned to face Eddie one more time. “In case it wasn’t clear, I meant it was a date.”

Eddie’s face broke into a grin. “I know Rich.” He said. “And the answer is still yes.”