Jiseok strolled through the public library, browsing the vast selections for his next obsession of the week. It seemed that lately he couldn’t find something to keep his attention for very long. The library was practically empty, letting him hum a quiet song. His hair hung in his eyes as he read the different book covers, his glasses dangling off the tip of his nose. Nothing seemed to capture his interest as he ran his fingers along the spines of all the books.

He took a seat at one of the many empty tables, resting his head in his arms. Maybe if he rested his always racing mind, he would be able to find something worth reading. He let out a snort, shaking his head. He’d have a better time wishing the book into existence.

Thud!

Jiseok’s head shot up. In front of him was a giant book. The cover was worn and barely holding onto the pages of the book. Looking around, he found he was completely alone in the library. He stared at the book curiously, poking it before looking around. When nothing happened he pulled the book towards him.

On the cover were faded symbols he couldn’t decipher. He squinted his eyes, flipping the cover over. More symbols covered the front page, forming some sort of foreign language he didn’t recognize. It wasn’t hieroglyphs, that much he knew, so that took out ancient Egypt.

“Hey, whatcha lookin’ at?” Looking up, Jiseok saw that his friend, Y/N had taken a seat across from him. She smiled at him, glancing down at his book. “Did you finally find something new to read?” she asked, resting her head in the hand.

“Maybe,” he mumbled, pushing his glasses up his nose and looking back at the book. He listened as Y/N’s chair moved against the library carpet. He felt her sit down next to him and peek over his shoulder.

“What do those symbols mean?” He frowned, placing the book back onto the table. She ran a gentle finger over the page, eyes skimming the mysterious symbols. She glanced at Jiseok who was angrily squinting at the page, trying to make sense of the gibberish. She let out a silent sigh. “I call them.”

“Don’t.” He grabbed onto her arm when she tried to stand. She gave him a pointed look.

“Listen, what happened wasn’t anyone’s fault. We’re going to need the help. Now let go of me. I’m going to call them.” Jiseok reluctantly let her arm go, watching as she went off to send the message. He swallowed thickly, turning back to the book.

Y/N returned a few moments later, a small triumphant smile on her face. She began typing on her phone, waiting for the rest of their old crew to reunite. Slowly, one by one their old friends came to the library. They gathered around the table, awkwardly looking at each other. Y/N stared at them unimpressed.

“Okay, now that everyone’s here, first things first. What happened wasn’t anyone’s fault and we need to move on. If you don’t get over yourselves, I’m going to put all of you in the friendship sweater. Second, Jiseok found this weird book with weird symbols on it. We’re going to help him decipher it. Think of this as a bonding experience! Now everyone, break!” Slowly, each boy stood up and went to a different part of the library. Y/N smiled down at Jiseok, giving his shoulder a soft squeeze before she went off to help the others.

She followed Jungwoo to the back of the library. He was scanning the top shelves looking for something that had strange symbols. He glanced over when he heard soft footsteps. He held back a sigh when he saw Y/N approaching him. She seemed so tiny compared to him. She crouched down, looking along the bottom shelves. He shook his head, focusing back on the books before him.

“See anything?” she asked after a while. She stood up slowly, rubbing her knees. He pulled down a book, handing it to her. “‘Fifteen Dead Languages and Their Origins’,” she read. She glanced up, a big smile on her face. “Good thinking. Even if it isn’t in there, maybe one of the languages mentions it.” She handed the book back to him before skipping off to help the others.

Y/N found Yuhwan in another part of the library, searching through old textbooks. He grabbed a few history books, flipping the cover over and skimming the front page. He glanced up briefly and did a double take when he saw Y/N. She picked up one of the books he had set down, looking at it confused.

“You’d be surprised how often old languages and weird symbols appear in history books. I’m sure one of these has the symbols,” he told her. She made an ‘o’ with her lips, glancing down at the books.

“That’s actually a good point. I would have never thought about that. See? Bringing everyone back together was a good idea.” She nudged him as she set the book back in its pile. She wandered off as he stared after her, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Sungjong was sitting between two bookcases, his glasses lopsided as he stared off into space. Y/N crouched down, waving a hand in front of his face. He blinked a couple times before shaking his head. He glanced over to her, a lopsided grin on her face.

“Hello there,” she said softly, quietly giggling. “Having fun there?”

“Just thinking.”

“I could tell. What were you thinking about?”

“I don’t remember, but it doesn’t matter. I think we’re wasting our time,” he told her. She pouted, frowning, and it took Sungjong everything in him not to reach over and squeeze her cheeks. “Look, I know you’re only trying to help, but a lot happened that you just don’t understand.” She rolled her eyes, standing up straight.

“I know enough to know that what you guys fought over isn’t worth all this. Now get off your lazy butt and be useful.” She nudged him with her foot until he gave in and stood up. He went to peruse the different books in front of him. He watched from the corner of his eye as she walked away, shaking her head.

Her next target was Jongkook. He was flipping through a book, eyes focused on the words on the pages. Y/N slid next to him, but he kept his focus on his book. Even when she gently tugged on his arm with her tiny hands to see what he was reading.

“Can I help you, Y/N?” he inquired, flipping the page. She glanced up at him through her lashes. He did his best to keep his gaze on the book in front of him.

“What’re you reading? She asked.

“A book.” She rolled her eyes, shoving his arm. He finally turned to look at her. She had her hip jutted out, her arms crossed over her chest. He rolled his eyes at her, snapping the book shut. “The symbols looked familiar. I’m looking through some of the books I’ve read where I might have seen them,” he explained.

She nodded, a smile on her face. He reached over her, placing the book back in its original spot. Y/N tripped over her feet, falling back against the bookshelf. He looked down as she looked up. She offered him a sheepish grin over her clumsiness. He quickly stepped back, looking for a different book.

“Well, good luck, let us know if you find anything,” she said as she walked away. He closed his eyes, letting out a sigh.

Y/N found Sungmin and Sejun on the computers, scrolling through some type of article. They glanced back and excitedly waved her over. She pulled a chair in between their computers, giving her perfect access to see both of their screens.

“Glad you could join us,” Sejun said. “We are definitely going about this the best way.”

“Is that so?” Y/N said, a playful smirk on her face.

“Definitely. What can you get from books that you can’t get from the internet in one hundred-forty characters or less?” Sungmin challenged. She playfully rolled her eyes, glancing over to Sejun’s computer.

“What’re you looking at?”

“Library archives. With the computer, I can go back decades and search for specific information. Like, did you know that bread can erase pencil marks?” Sejun said, wiggling his thick eyebrows at Y/N. She covered her mouth to stifle her giggle.

“Thanks for the tidbit Caterpie, but not what we’re looking for. What about you Sungmin? What’re you looking at?” She turned to look at his screen, moving her seat closer. His eyes darted from her, to Sejun to his screen before anyone could even blink.

“So unlike our single track-minded friends, I went outside the library and searched the entire web. I looked up about forty different ways to say ‘old, strange symbols’. Do any of these look close to it?” he asked, moving over.

Y/N scooted over to sit on his lap as she went through all the tabs he had open. She looked at each symbol with a careful eye. Sungmin sat stiff in his chair, his gaze moving around the ceiling. Sejun sat tapping his finger against the computer table, eyes traveling from Y/N to Sungmin and back to Y/N.

“There!” Y/N shouted. Sejun and Sungmin jumped and Y/N fell back into her seat. The librarian appeared, loudly hushing Y/N. Y/N grinned sheepishly,  holding her hand up in recognition. She turned back to Sungmin’s screen. “That was one of the symbols in the book.”

Sungmin began typing away on the screen, and Sejun also went to work researching the symbol. Y/N watched them work until they both grinded to a halt.

“What? What is it?” Y/N asked.

“The symbols aren’t ancient as we thought,” Sejun said. He pulled Y/N’s chair closer to him, pointing out what he found on his screen. Y/N read what in front of her, her brows knitting in confusion.

“Wait, it’s what?” Jungwoo asked. He was leaning against the table, staring at Y/N like she had grown three heads.

“It’s called Enochian, or the Language of Angels,” she said. She pointed to the pages she’d printed off from the computer. “It’s from the work of Dr. John Dee, who lived from 1527 to 1608. During a seven year period he worked with the psychic Edward Kelley. Together they created detailed diaries of their work which still exists today in the British and Bodleian Museums in England.”

“That’s great, but how do we decipher it?” Yuhwan inquired. Jongkook reached over the table before snatching a book off the table. He flipped through the book before stopping on a page. His eyes scanned the words on the page, his brows furrowing.

“I think I can crack it if I can work with this passage,” he said, pointing out a passage in his book that had Enochian in it.

“I’ll help, two brains are better than one,” Sejun said.

“In that case, Sungmin you’re helping too.” Y/N snickered, moving to grab the big book. She flipped through the other pages until she found a page with a piece of paper in it.

“Huh, that’s weird.” She pulled the piece of paper out, unfolding it and laying it out on the table. On the paper was a mix of Enochian and Korean, making it difficult to understand what was on the paper.

“I guess we’re all helping crack that code,” Sungjong said. The boys and Y/N dove into the work. Slowly the sun traveled across the sky, painting the sky in different shades of orange and red. It was nearly dusk when they figured how to read Enochian, at least with the cheat sheet.

“Okay, let’s see what this paper says,” Jiseok said. He grabbed another piece of paper, writing the translations down and making sense of the jumbled mess on the paper. Once he finished, he read it aloud. “‘Tonight only, join us and live this life behind. The reckoning is among us, and the angels are here to save us. Tonight we join the undead on their holy crusade to cleanse the world of its scum. Meet at this address. Men only.’” Y/N let out a scoff.

“Of course it’s only men,” she snipped, rolling her eyes. She snatched the paper from Jongkook, re-reading the paper. “This says it takes place tonight.” She looked around at the boys. “We should check it out.”

“Absolutely not,” Yuhwan said. Y/N frowned, placing her hands on her hips. “This is not up for debate. That is obviously some radical religious group and I’m not letting you go anywhere near them.”

“I appreciate the concern, but I can handle myself.”

“I agree,” Jongkook said, crossing his arms over his chest. “It sounds dangerous, and I don’t think you should be around that.” Y/N nodded thoughtfully. She carefully set the paper on the table, smoothing out the creases.

“I’m going to investigate that event, and I’m going whether you guys are going or not. We’re not in high school anymore. I’m not sitting home while you get to do all the cool things. Now are you joining me, or am I doing this by myself?” she inquired. The boys looked at each other then at her. Jungwoo let out a sigh and began standing up. Everyone watched him curiously.

“Well come on. I’d rather us be there than not,” he said. The others slowly followed suit, shaking their heads. Y/N smiled triumphantly. “We don’t have a lot of time. The thing starts just after sun down.”

Everyone followed Y/N out of the library. The sun was setting fast and they needed to find that address. The address led them to a dangerous part of town. The guys were on high alert, staring at every suspicious shadow they passed. Y/N paid no mind to their paranoid behavior. She was ready to find out what that paper was talking about.

When they arrived at an abandoned warehouse, the boys immediately held Y/N behind them. She rolled her eyes, walking around them and peeking through one of the busted windows. She spotted two people dressed like zombies talking in what she guessed was Enochian. She turned to wave the boys over. They quietly ran up to her, each peeking through the window. The two zombies disappeared through a door behind an old set of stairs.

“We have to see where they’re going,” Y/N whispered.

“Okay, but we need to be smart,” Jiseok said. Everyone nodded in agreement. “Okay, as much as you’re going to hate this, Y/N, you need to stay in the shadows.” She pouted, frowning at his request. “It said men only. Who knows what will happen if they see you.” She nodded her head, still not happy about having to hide.

“We’re just going to investigate what they’re doing. Once we know, we’re leaving. Understood?” Yuhwan said. Everyone nodded. They were going to move into the building when Sungjong grabbed onto them.. He pointed out the hidden cameras inside the building. Jungwoo shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around Y/N, pulling the hood over her head. She grinned while the hood covered the top of half of her face.

Carefully they snuck into the abandoned warehouse. From below, they felt the floor vibrate. Soft, but deep, music thumped from beneath them. They crept along the room, making their way to the door the first two zombies had disappeared to. They cracked the door open, listening as what sounded like tribal music thumped below. They crept down the staircase until they came to see what was going on.

It appeared to be a zombie party. Zombies shuffled around as weird music blasted through the speakers. Everyone snuck behind the drink station that was near the staircase. Carefully they peered around the table, taking in everything around them. More Enochian symbols covered the walls and ceiling. In the center of the floor was a strange series of symbols that Y/N recognized from the book where the piece of paper had been.

“What do you think is going on?” she whispered.

“I’m not sure, but one thing’s for sure. These guys aren’t getting laid,” Sejun said. Sungmin nodded in agreement, eyeing them suspiciously.

“Since I can’t go and investigate, you guys go do it,” Y/N said, nudging the guys away from her. They slowly joined the party, finding dirt and rubbing it on their faces and clothes. A couple guys even tore some of their clothes to blend in. She watched as they went around and talked to the other men that were there. They seemed to talk and talk and talk. Y/N rolled her eyes, sitting back and waiting for them to rejoin her.

Sungjong was the first to rejoin her. He had spread dirt along his face and nose. He glanced around before dropping out of view. He sat next to Y/N shaking his head. She stared at him expectantly.

“Well, what did you find out?” she inquired.

“Wait for the others. I don’t want to repeat it a million times.” She rolled her eyes but waited nonetheless. One by one the guys rejoined her. They all seemed confused.

“Okay, lay it on me.”

“Well first things first, they have no idea what they’re talking about,” Sungmin said. “They have no idea what the reckoning is.”

“Well what do they think it is?”

“They think angels are going to give them immortal life and glory by turning them into the undead,” Sungjong explained.

“They said the leader has spoken to the angels and they have blessed him,” Jongkook added. “But we couldn’t find the leader--”

“GENTLEMEN!”

Everyone went silent. Carefully and quietly they turned to peer over the table. A zombie stood on a raised platform, staring out over the sea of wanna-be zombies. The group watched as the zombies fell into lines, staring up at who they assumed was the leader. Sejun pushed Y/N’s head down slightly, making sure she wouldn’t be spotted.

“MY BROTHERS! THE TIME HAS COME FOR US TO RISE ABOVE THE LESSER BEING OF THIS WORLD AND CLAIM OUR SPOT AT THE TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN! THE ANGELS HAVE SPOKEN TO ME AND THEY HAVE SHOWN ME A FUTURE IN WHICH WE DOMINATE THE WORLD! AS IT SHOULD HAVE ALWAYS BEEN!”

The zombies cheered loudly, applauding his speech. The group slid back behind the table, staring at each other with wide eyes. The leader continued to spout absolute nonsense from his position.

“What the hell is going on?” Sungmin asked. “These people are actually insane.”

“Okay, we came, we investigated, now we’re leaving,” Yuhwan said. He grabbed Y/N’s wrist, ignoring her silent protest and pulling her up. Well, he shouldn’t have ignored her because they ended up knocking over the table.

Crash!

All attention went to them as they stood frozen in their spots. The leader glared at them, his eyes seeming to grow unnaturally dark. The other zombies looked to him for guidance. He smiled a sickening smile, looking over his devoted followers.

“My brothers, the angels warned me there could be traitors--those who don’t believe in our cause amongst us. I will be honest, I had thought it was someone we knew, but it appears the threat is foreign.” He looked back at the group, glaring menacing once again. “Grab them.”

Everything froze for a solid minute before the zombies started running after them. Yuhwan dragged Y/N up the stairs as fast as he could. The others were right behind them, trying not to trip over their own feet as a hoard of zombies ran after them. They came to the front door but it was being blocked by more zombies.

“Split up!” Jiseok yelled. He grabbed Y/N and ran up the stairs with Jongkook and Sungjong right behind them. Yuhwan, Jungwoo, Sejun, and Sungmin ran in the opposite direction. Up the stairs was a labyrinth of hallways and doors. “Jongkook, take Y/N and run. Sungjong, come with me.”

Jongkook grabbed Y/N’s hand and led her down one of the hallways. He pushed her into one of the rooms and kept on running, hoping to draw away anyone who might have been following them. Y/N looked around the room until she heard a door from inside open.

Jungwoo popped his head out of what appeared to be a closet. He looked at her with wide eyes before holding his finger to his mouth. He motioned her to follow him to the door. She tiptoed quietly as he cracked the door open. Once he knew the cost was clear, he grabbed her wrist and dragged her back down the hallway. At the end were two zombies. Jungwoo stopped dead in his tracks, causing Y/N to crash into his back. She let out a loud “oof” and peeked around his wide frame. The zombies glared specifically at her, growling at her.

Sejun came around the corner, grabbing onto Y/N and pulling her away from the zombies, and Jungwoo ran in the opposite direction. He led her back downstairs to try and get out the front door. Unfortunately there were more zombies waiting for them. He grabbed onto the banister end of the stairs and swung Y/N around it and straight into Sungmin’s chest.

He wasted no time and grabbed onto her, pulling her towards the back of the house. They went through a pair of swinging doors and into what looked like a break room. They looked around for something to help them when Sungmin noticed loose ceiling tiles. He pulled a table under one of them and pulled Y/N up with him. They heard noises coming from outside the door as he hoisted her up. He pulled the ceiling tiles back into place, leaving her alone.

She began to crawl around in the ceiling, making as little noise as possible as she listened to the footsteps above her. She could hardly see anything, and the constant thumping in her ears wasn’t helping. She tried to keep her breathing under control as she maneuvered her way through the ceiling. That was until she came into contact with rotted wood and fell through the ceiling.

She wasn’t anywhere she remembered. The walls were nothing but cement and old papers thrown around everywhere. She picked a few of them up, briefly scanning the contents. She took out her phone and snapped some pictures of the papers. She slowly picked up more of the papers, reading them carefully.

“There you are missy.” She whipped around to see a pair of zombies standing at the doorway. They slowly moved towards her. She moved back until her back hit a wall. She clicked her phone a bunch of times until one of the zombies grabbed her, tossing her phone to the side. They dragged her from the cement room and back down the stairs.

The rest of her friends were already there when they brought her down. The boys struggled against their restraints as they brought her before the leader. They pushed her onto her knees, and she fell forward onto her hands. She peered up at the leader, a scowl on her face. He pursed his lips staring down over his nose at her.

“Ladies shouldn’t frown. It’ll cause wrinkles in your face,” he said, earning snickers from his followers.

“Get fucked,” Y/N bit. He growled, pulling her up by her hair. She let out a painful grunt, grabbing at here his hand connected to her hair. The boys shouted at him, pulling at their restraints harder.

“This is why women cannot join us,” the leader said. “Too emotional and vulnerable for their own good. They need to be reminded that they--” he tossed Y/N onto the ground before him, watching her skid to a stop “--are beneath us men.” He turned his attention back to his followers. “My brothers, the hour of glory is upon us.”

Slowly the zombies began to form a circle around Y/N chanting in Enochian. The guys shouted at her, but their yells were drowned out by the growing volume of the chants. She glanced down at what she was sitting on. Beneath her were different Enochian symbols. She could only make out bits and pieces she could remember from what they had discovered earlier that day. She looked around the room and found a window with the blinds open so the moon had direct access to where she was sitting.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

From upstairs, sirens blared loudly as dozens of officers came barreling down the stairs. Many of the zombies began to panic, looking around for an escape route. The boys called for help and one officer began to release them from their holdings. Below Y/N the ground was beginning to glow brightly. The Enochian symbols had a soft, almost angelic, blow glow around them.

“It’s too late!” the leader laughed. “Soon we will be immortal! Glory. Will. Be. Ours!” Y/N glared at the leader. She slipped her shoe off, taking careful aim before she threw it at the blinds. They fell down, obscuring the moonlight from the room. The symbols lost their glow and the chanting died down.

The police closed in on the zombies, herding them into a corner to cuffed and taken downtown. The leader looked around, his face contorting into pure rage. He made direct contact with Y/N before making a beeline straight for her. She struggled moving away, watching as he rapidly drew closer.

Yuhwan stepped in front of her, landing a solid punch in the leader’s face. His head snapped back and he stumbled. Y/N stared up at Yuhwan with wide eyes. He turned to look down at her, his hard gaze softening at her shocked state. Two police officers ran past him to grab the leader. He struggled against them, glaring at Y/N and her friends.

“Who is this guy?” one of them asked.

“I can answer that,” Y/N said as Yuhwan helped her to her feet. “That’s not some mysterious cult leader, that’s actually Min Jungsaem, the ex-CEO of what used to be the biggest paper factory in Seoul.”

“The paper mill? But that place shut down years ago,” Sungmin said.

“Exactly! This whole paperless crap threw my business down the drain!” Mr. Min said. “I was completely broke. My wife left me and took the kids and everything I had. That’s when the angels began talking to me. They told me how I could become the most powerful man dead or alive!” Y/N shook her head.

“Upstairs in a cement room is my phone, along with papers of doctor recommendations for Schizophrenia. He needs serious, professional help.” The officers nodded before pulling Mr. Min and his cult followers away. Y/N let out a deep breath.

“That--that was absolutely crazy,” Sungjong said. “I don’t even really have words for what just happened.”

“But wait, how did the police know where to go?” Jiseok asked.

“Like I said. My phone has a thing where if you click the button enough times, the police are sent to your location. When I was cornered in the cement room, I knew we’d need backup, so I called the second-best backup I knew.”

“Who’s the first?” Jongkook asked. Y/N laughed, pulling the boys into a group hug.

“Obviously you guys. If you hadn’t been here to help me, who knows what would have transpired. You guys are my number one backup, and no matter what happens, I know you’ll always be there for me and each other.”

“AW!”

“You’re such a sap!”

“Stop you’ll make me cry!”

They all ended up laughing, hugging each other as tightly as possible.

He could see the windows fogging up; a cool November afternoon, during which Eddie rests his head on Richie’s shoulder, the two of them slowly making their way through the latest issue of Spider-Man. The moment would end after Bill or Ben taps on the window to make sure they’re not dead and Richie hollers at him for ruining their wildly intense make out. Eddie, of course, would roll his eyes so hard, they nearly get stuck.

He could see Valentine’s Day, or maybe Christmas - a day Eddie decides is special for them. Maybe one of their birthdays, although probably Richie’s. They climb into the backseat and the make out becomes more than Richie thought Eddie would give before marriage (handjobs were okay, but his little church boy would never go so far without the ring). Richie would cackle at the phrase “make love,” but he would make it to Eddie all night (or two minutes, the first time).

“What are you laughing at?” Eddie asked, his voice softer now.

Richie shook his head, “Something funny.”

“Richard.”

Looking up at his boyfriend, he saw a soulmate. Eddie’s lips pressed into a thin line, before twisting to the corner of his mouth.

“I’m gonna buy it,” Richie said adamantly. Eddie’s eyes widened.

“This thing is a piece of junk!” “And it’s the only piece of junk in my price range.” “You could save up longer-” “Nah.”

Richie climbed out of the car, the door creaking loudly as he shut it, and in a flash of a moment, he saw himself closing the door behind Eddie for their thousandth date. There was room on the hood for the two of them to lie on it and watch the stars. He practically felt the wind in his hair as he drove with the windows down, a Tears For Fears cassette jammed in the radio and stuck there thanks to Stan (but that was perfectly okay since Eddie loved Everybody Wants to Rule the World).

Handing the cash over, Richie dangled the keys in front of Eddie, who shook his head but failed to fight off the smile.

“Why do you want this car?” he whined, giggling when Richie pulled him close and led him back.

He’s only here because of the extra credit. His psych professor offered extra points if students came to this performance of The Nutcracker that his wife is in. It’s a convoluted way of forcing students to fill the concert hall to make your wife happy, but Richie needs the points.

It’s not like he’s failing psych, but he’s missed a few (a lot) of the lectures due to sleeping in and so he’s missing a few (a lot) participation points.

So, here he is. Spending his Friday night watching The Nutcracker and smoking during intermission. He can’t even leave early because to receive the credit, he needs to check-in with his professor after the show to prove he watched.

As he lets that bogus reality sink in, he hears a soft voice behind him.

“You’re in Kippner’s psych class, right?”

Richie turns around and vaguely recognizes the owner of the voice as a boy from his lecture.

He’s the cutie who sits in the front, Richie notes. The boy is short even when standing.

“Yeah, here for the extra credit?”

“Yep, missed a few classes so apparently, I need to watch a ballet to get my points back.”

Richie snorts. “It’s total abuse of power. Just because you aren’t getting laid by your wife doesn’t mean you can bribe students into attending a ballet to please her.”

The boy lets out a giggle and shit, Richie is smitten. “Seriously. I doubt his wife cares that some failing college students watched the sugar plum fairy dance.”

Richie chuckles and lets his eyes wander over the smaller boy. He’s wearing a purple button-down shirt that’s tucked into a well-fitted pair of black slacks. He looks professional and neat compared to Richie who’s wearing his Nirvana t-shirt with ripped jeans because why bother looking put together for a ballet he doesn’t care about?

“You look like it,” he blurts.

“What?”

Richie flusters, blushing. “You look like the sugar plum fairy.” He’s not lying. The boy has a round face and the darkened outfit makes him look extra sweet.

The boy’s eyes narrow. “So, because I’m gay I’m automatically the fairy?”

“What? No!” Fuck his Trashmouth. “I mean you look like a fairy, not fairy as in gay, fairy as in ‘I got fairy dust and fly in woods – ‘“

The boy starts laughing as Richie stands embarrassed. “I’m only teasing.” His eyes hold this soft sparkle that make Richie’s knees weak. “I like the comparison so, thank you.”

Richie sighs in relief. “Boy, you may look like sugar, but you got some spice to ya.”

“I got everything nice too.” He smiles mischievously. “Now put the deathstick out and let’s get back to the show.”

“We’re already ‘cute ‘n shit’.”

“Pinterest told me we aren’t cute enough, Eds, and I will not take such disrespect from an app used by suburban moms in minivans.”

“Rich, you use that app more than any of the Losers. And Bev is literally a suburban mom. She has a minivan.”

“She doesn’t count because she’s Bev, so your argument is frankly bullshit.”

“I’m pretty sure she doesn’t even have a Pinterest account,” Eddie murmurs thoughtfully, still playing with the end of one of Richie’s curls.

“Ben does. I made him get one—shit, I see what you mean, now. But the facts still stand. We need sugar to make cookies,” Richie says. He rolls off the couch. “Up, up, up, Eds. We’ve gotta prove Pinterest wrong.”

“I’m comfy, though. This couch is warm; out there, it’s snowy,” Eddie reasons, disgust in his voice. He doesn’t like snow, not one bit. Richie stands to his full height and picks Eddie’s hands up off the couch and tugs half-heartedly.

“Eds, Eds, Eds,” Richie chants with every tug. “Sugar, sugar, sugar!” He uses one of his Voices, one deep and weirdly close to Fred Flintstone. It makes Eddie giggle, but he groans when Richie tugs on his arms again, swinging them back and forth between them.

“Richie,” Eddie drags out.

“Eddie,” Richie mimics.

“Rich!”

“Please, Eds, we can get you warm again while we make cookies,” Richie promises. “They’ll be the best damn sugar cookies you ever had, according to Pinterest.”

“Fine,” Eddie relents and lets himself be pulled upright on the couch. The T.V. drones on in the background. Eddie glances out the window and finds at least a few inches of snow on the windowsill with more falling from the sky, and he shudders, already feeling the biting cold on his skin. Richie notices and laughs, big and hearty, just like Rich himself. Eddie feels a little warmer.

“C’mon, Sugar,” Eddie murmurs, once they’re both layered with warm clothes (Eddie more so than Richie, the warm-blooded bastard), “Gimme some sugar.” Eddie grins and pulls Richie closer.

“Damn! Eds gets off a good one!” Richie laughs, and he complies.

Just as Eddie was about to argue with him for touching his things, a knock echoed throughout the space, causing both of their heads to snap in the direction of the door.

“Not it!” Stan called after a moment of silence before proceeding to carry the box down the hallway towards the bedroom.

Sighing, Eddie made his way around his living room to get to his door, not bothering to see who it was.

He assumed it was Mike, maybe, like Stan, coming to pay him a visit at his new apartment, so when Eddie opened the door expecting to see his close friend, he was somewhat taken aback to instead see a lanky, yet attractive man dressed in far too many colors.

“Hi,” was all he could say as he looked at the stranger who had to be at least five inches taller than him, with relentless curls falling over his chiseled face and blue eyes that were behind rounded frames. “Uh…Can I help you?”

The man blinked, once, twice, before clearing his throat and straightening himself, pushing his glasses farther up his freckled nose as a grin grew on his face. “Why, hello sir. The name’s Richie Tozier.”

Eddie loved the sound of his voice. “I’m…I’m Eddie,” he said.

“Eddie,” Richie repeated. It sounded good on his tongue. “Well, Eddie, I live upstairs and I noticed you moving in a bit ago. I wanted to welcome you to the building.”

But before Eddie could thank his neighbor, he was leaning in. “To be honest, I actually came down to ask if you had any sugar that I could borrow, and it seems I’ve got some right in front of me.”

Heat rushed to Eddie’s face, and he jumped back. “I…I don’t have any-”

“I’m messing with you,” Richie laughed with a wink. “I can come back another time, see if you have sugar sometime next week-”

Eddie, panicked, quite liking the feeling of heat on his cheek and the straightforwardness of his cute new neighbor, interrupted him. “Or maybe in a few days!”

He relished in the way Richie’s eyebrows shot up before he spoke again. “Yeah. I think I’ll have some then.”

“Alright,” his neighbor said with a grin that reached his eyes. “See you then, Sugar.”

With fuzzy insides Eddie shut the door and turned to start unpacking, only to see Stan standing amidst the boxes, as if he had been stood there the entire time. “He asked you for sugar. Like it’s the sixties.”

As he drove up to the next stoplight it turned from yellow to red, and the lights on either side of the street began to flash, indicating for the large mass of people waiting on the sidewalks to cross the street.

Richie thought nothing of it at first, absentmindedly tapping his steering wheel to the random song playing on his radio, until the sound of two people yelling was heard outside of his car.

It was hard to ignore, the two voices, one was high-pitched, screechy, whiny, and the other was throaty, and held actual emotion. Richie couldn’t make out what they were saying due to his windows being rolled up, but he was immediately intrigued when the two sources of the yelling were shoving through the crowd, clearly arguing.

There was a man and woman about the same height, although the woman was much bigger than the man and she was the one who held the screechy voice. She was red in the face as she stomped around the side walk, poking and prodding at the guy’s chest who looked like he would rather die than be stood on that sidewalk.

Richie confusedly watched as the man scanned his surroundings before making eye-contact with Richie through his windshield.

The man simply looked at the woman, looked back at Richie, before sprinting in the direction of his stopped car.

Richie somehow froze as this man ran into the street and up to his car before yanking on the handle and getting into the car as if they were old friends.

The light turned green.

“Drive,” was all the man said.

Richie was astonished. “Th-This isn’t a taxi-”

The man frantically cut him off, the two watching as the woman was slowly approaching the car with her face even redder and more furious than before.

“Listen, I’m sorry, I know you don’t know who I am, but my name is Eddie Kaspbrak and I needed to get out of that situation, that woman is my ex-fiancé and I just dumped her because I realized I’m gay, and she’s right there and NOT happy so please for the love of god just DRIVE-”

Richie, who was now realizing he was a bit tired of the ordinary life, was unable to process coherent thoughts or deny anything to the cute man who just entered his car.

”You’re thinking about something.”

Eddie broke the silence that had been stretching out for what could be minutes or hours, Eddie didn’t know. It didn’t matter. They were at the Quarry just the two of them, spread out on a few blankets, letting the hot July sun dry them after having spent time in the water.

”You’re not even looking at me,” Richie answered. His voice was calm but there was always that hint of a laugh in the way he spoke. It was a Richie thing.

Eddie opened his eyes and turned his head to the side, meeting Richie’s gaze. The sight of him with new freckles, glowing skin and glistening eyes made Eddie forget for a second what they were talking about. Richie had that affect on Eddie. It was another Richie thing.

”It’s the way you’re breathing. I’ve noticed that it changes when you’re thinking about something important,” Eddie finally managed to answer.

The corners of Richie’s mouth turned up. ”Oh, so you’ve noticed things about me,” he laughed and rose up to his elbow and looked down at Eddie, his smile growing wider. ”Tell me more things you’ve noticed about me.”

Eddie could spend days talking about things he’d noticed about Richie.

”I’ve noticed that you always tap your fingers to your thumb when you listen to music and you never miss a beat, I’ve noticed that whenever you talk really passionate about a story you talk with your hands, a lot. And that you always put a hand over your heart when you laugh really hard.”

Eddie never let go of Richie’s gaze and he tried to speak as genuinely as he could, pouring love in every syllable. He raised his hand and gently brushed his fingers over Richie’s arm.

”I’ve noticed that blush you get when I touch you,” he whispered. ”I’ve noticed how your pulse speeds up when I come close to you.”

Eddie leaned in so close that he could feel Richie’s breath on his skin.

Richie let out a shaky sigh. ”Are you noticing now that you drive me absolutely crazy?”

A small smile crept on Eddie’s lips. ”And have you noticed that I’m so in love with you that I think my heart will burst?”

It didn’t even take one second before Richie pressed his lips against Eddie’s. Kissing Richie was everything he’d always thought it would be. It was passionate, it was rushed and it was perfect.

After what felt like an eternity they pulled apart. Richie was glowing with happiness.

The man in question jumped, clearly surprised by the presence of another awake person. He swiveled around in his desk chair, dark brows knit together in concern. “Oh! Eds. I woke you up. Of course. Shit, sorry.”

Eddie reached over and began to rub soothingly on Richie’s tense shoulders, taking a worried mental note of just how tight and stressed he seemed. He could practically feel his boyfriend vibrating where he sat, and judging by the coffee cups littered around Richie’s laptop, he had been awake far longer than he should have been.

“Rich, don’t apologize. It’s okay.”

Richie pursed his lips, in irritation that Eddie could only assume was directed inwardly. “No, Eddie. It’s not. I shouldn’t be waking you up at god-damn…” Richie swiveled again, this time to squint at the alarm clock on the nightstand. “3:30 in the morning! Jesus. I’m so sorry.” He started to rub stressed circles on his temples, muttering to himself. “Stupid program, I just…”

Eddie reached out and gently took Richie’s hands away from his temples. “Hey. Richie. Seriously. Don’t apologize. You’re obviously stressed. I doubt sitting here alone and stewing in your own hyperfixation juices  would have been helpful for much longer.” Richie huffed something close to a laugh at that, then looked up, almost ashamed, to sorrowfully meet his boyfriend’s concerned gaze.

“It’s this program. I thought it was done. But apparently I fucked up somewhere? I don’t know. But it’s 35% of my grade, and I need this class to get into grad school, and if I can’t even get into grad school I sure as hell am not going to get into a PhD program, and-”

“Richie!” Eddie cut him off again, not even bothering to hold back a fond smile. “Rich, you’re going to be okay. I am so, so so proud of you.”

Richie snorted. “Sure, the Nursing major with a full ride is ‘proud’ of me.”

“No!” All traces of laughter were gone from Eddie’s face now, and he leaned in close to cup his boyfriend’s angular face in his much tanner hands. “I am beyond proud of you, Richard Tozier. You are the love of my life, and the hottest fucking guy I’ve ever seen, and on top of that, you are the most driven person I know.”

Richie rolled his eyes. “Some good ‘drive’ does if I fail my class.”

Now it was Eddie’s turn to snort. “Richie. You’re not going to fail. Besides, this program isn’t due until Friday, right?” Richie nodded. “So, now it’s time to sleep. You’ve kept your nose to the grindstone for long enough.”

Richie took a deep breath, and nodded reluctantly. Eddie smiled. “Plus, my bed’s kinda cold. Maybe you can help warm it up?”