the new kid

seven - too soon

after around 30 minutes of hanging with bev, kaitlyn went home, and to her surprise, richie wasn't there.

he should be back by now, right? eddie ran down the stairs as soon as he heard the door open with a slight shard of hope that it could be richie

"kaitlyn! oh my gosh! what took you so long? did they say anything? did they do anything? did they kiss again? who made the first move? why aren't you saying anything?!"

"chillax eddie! jeez! nothing happened, stanley just confessed and richie didn't feel the same way. don't worry, everything is fine"

eddie sighed, overthinking will get the best of him.

eddie was about to go upstairs until he heard the door open for a second time,

"rich!" eddie smiled and ran over, engulfing his boyfriend in a hug, richie hugged him tightly back

"woah, what's with the sudden gush of affection?"

"i missed you" eddie mumbled,
his head still nuzzled into the crook of richies neck

richie smiled. this was nice.

eddie lifted his head up and placed his hand on richie's cheek, he was about to pull him down for a kiss but stopped dead in his tracks

"w-what's wrong eds?"

eddie's breath grew shaky

"your lips"
he spoke so bluntly

"yep, they're all yours"

richie smiled and leant down to kiss his boyfriend, only for eddie to pull away

"what? what is it?"

eddie shook his head, staring at richies red, puffy lips

"you kissed him, didn't you?"

richie's face dropped
"we- i didn't- he leaned in a-and i couldn't"

"wow"

eddie felt his eyes fill up and ran upstairs without another word

richies let out a small gasp and watched eddie run away, it all happened so fast.

"kaitlyn i-"

"save it richie. i trusted you, he trusted you."

kaitlyn ran upstairs after eddie, leaving richie alone with his guilt.

———

kaitlyn was sat on eddie's bed, his head resting on her lap.

"why didn't you tell me"

"i must have left before it happened, i am so sorry eddie, i should have stayed longer"

"no, don't blame yourself, this is his fault, not yours."

kaitlyn smiled and received a half smile back from eddie, she looked up and started laughing

"boy you sure know how to pick them"

eddie rolled his eyes

"i know, but it's not the same, richie isn't usually like that, i really liked him you know"

"i know you did munch, but i mean nobody says you still can't? you know i'm not on his side but maybe hear him out you know? from what i saw, stanley was dying to do something so maybe richie couldn't stop it from happening?"