mixtape (reddie)

Chapter 14

9:01 pm.

Richie props his bike against the last house on the street with a red mailbox, circling around the yard to see the first floor window with a light on. He buzzes in excitement, reaching out and gently tapping on the glass.

Eddie's face appears in the curtains a moment later, the boy pushing the window upwards with his quaint arms. He leans in the window sill, grinning at Richie, and hums in amusement as his eyes travel up and down the tall boy's frame.

"Come to say goodnight?" Eddie asks, checking his watch. "You're a minute late."

"Got a bit caught up," Richie says, taking a step forward. "You know, it's hard to go anywhere without women chasing me."

Eddie rolls his eyes but still laughs, stepping backwards and saying "Come on then, come inside."

Richie hoists himself up into the window, colliding with Eddie's floor when he loses balance. Eddie watches the clumsy tumble with fond eyes, sitting on his bed and waiting for Richie to recover.

Richie looks around, noticing the flower wallpaper and shag carpet. Eddie doesn't have posters or photos hanging up like Richie does, however, there is a picture of all the losers sitting in a frame on his bedside table. Eddie's room is as neat and orderly that Richie would have expected, but that does not take the soul out of it. There's still Mad magazines stacked by the closet door, comic books lining the bookshelf that holds very few novels, and a small television set in the corner of the room.

"You have your own TV?" Richie gasps, admiring all of the Star Wars stickers that Eddie has put in lines around the thick box frame.

"Mhm. Do you want to watch MTV?" Eddie stands, but Richie quickly shakes his head.

"Usually I would say yes, but... tonight is for you, not the music."

"You didn't bring your Walkman?" Eddie asks, sounding genuinely shocked.

Richie stands up, approaching the fish tank in the corner of the room and watching the colorful aqua life swim around frantically. Eddie loves the shades of blue that glow upon Richie's skin, but he doesn't comment on it.

"No, actually. Just thought we could talk instead," Richie says, distracted by the fish. Apparently something else catches his attention, because he quickly crosses the room and starts flipping through the stacks of baseball cards that Eddie collects. "I use that thing as a crutch, I guess I'm trying to learn to walk on my own. Some asshole told me I need to learn how to be alone with my thoughts."

Eddie laughs and says "Whatever. I'm glad you're growing, but it's still okay to have a crutch. Whether it's pills, or music, I think it's all okay. Music is good, music is nice."

"Hm," Richie chuckles to himself, his fingers dancing along the line of pill bottles. At the very end, Eddie's aspirator sits, and Richie thinks about all the times that it's touched Eddie's soft lips. He feels jealous.

Eddie yawns, which reminds Richie of why he's initially here. He crawled in Eddie's window to say goodnight, yet the words haven't even left his mouth.

"Goodnight, Eds," Richie smiles, moving back towards the bedroom window.

Eddie gets up and approaches Richie. The tall boy thinks, just for a second, that he is going to be kissed for the third time. Though, what Eddie actually does instead is just as exciting.

He shuts the window.

"You want me to stay?" Richie's tone is hopeful.

"No, dipshit, I just closed the window so that you could smash through it and hospitalize yourself," Eddie scoffs, returning to his bed. He sits with his legs underneath him, and Richie can't help but notice how cute Eddie's pajamas shorts are. Especially when they're paired with the shirt of Richie's that Eddie is still wearing.