you began to feel like home- reddie

chapter 9

"You got everything?" A voice fills Eddies ears, as he zips up his bag. He turns to the boy and nods, putting the back on his back before walking towards the door. Richie is already halfway down the hallway by the time he starts walking after him, slipping his shoes on. It's Sunday morning, just after 9am. Eddie decides now would be a good time to go home and face his mother after disappearing for two days. He sighs as he opens the door, Richie following him out.

"And you're sure you don't want me to ride home with you." Richie says, whist closing his door. "Yes, i'm sure Rich." Eddie says, laughing slightly. He pulls the boy into a quick hug, smiling at him after pulling away. He jumps off the porch to his bike, picking it up and starting to ride off. Richie waves to the boy, even though he knows he can't see before retreating back into the house.

"Your boyfriend gone?" Ashley asks from where she's drawing at the kitchen table. Richie whips his head round, before mumbling something along the lines of, "not my boyfriend." He then goes upstairs, and into the room Eddie had just left before leaving. He made the bed and puffed up the pillows, making it look presentable even though Eddie hadn't slept in here at all. Just when he was about to leave he noticed a note on the bedside table. He walked over and opened it up.

Thanks for letting me stay loser, i enjoyed it. you're a great cuddler ;) -Ed's

Richie laughed a little, stuffing the letter into his jacket pocket before leaving the room, flipping the light off and closing the door.

——————-

"I will break your neck if you come near me with that," "Oh really?" "Yes really i swear to god Richie!" Richie laughed, putting down the bug so it could crawl away while Eddie sighed in relief. It was late November, and Richie had somehow convinced Eddie to skip school with him to go exploring derry. Beverly had decided to tag along also, and brought her camera with her. She was taking pictures of the bugs Richie picked up and Eddies reaction to every single one. She laughed at the one she had just caught, Eddie looking like he'd just about burst into tears whist Richie was laughing his ass off.

"Your face was absolutely priceless." He hears her say, but he ignores the voice. He starts walking further down the path, draped in a coat that is way too big for him. The weather is bitter and cold and he was in no way risking catching anything. He found a bench and sat on it, pulling his hands to his mouth to blow into them. The heat contacted with his hand a little before Richie came running over to him with a grin on his face.

He then pulled something out from behind his back and Eddie grew worried. Then he sees something bright, a flower. He looks up to Richie to see the boy standing there, motioning to him to take it. He smiles before pulling it into his own hands, examining it. The tips are frosted a little and the yellow shines in the low light of the day. He hears a camera go off but decides to ignore it, looking up at Richie before getting up and walking and trying to find another flower. He turned back around to the boy to pass him a purple flower, with white specks in it. He was smiling, while pushing it into Richie's hands. Another camera click goes off as Richie smiles back to him.

"When should we start heading back?" Bev asks, as they walk down the trail a little further. Eddie checks his wrist clock for the time, his eyes widening at the sight. "It's already 2:30." He says, shock lacing his voice. The other two look over to him as he holds his hand out for them to look. Richie grabs it slightly, making Eddies face go red while him and Bev examine it. He pulls it back to his side after a few moments. He just starts walking again until they get back to the beginning of the trail where their bikes lay. Eddie picks his up and leaves without saying a word.

———————-

His breathing is heavy, as he throws a lamp to the floor. He slides against the door crying, broken pieces of glass surrounding him. It was the middle of the night and Sonia was out of town for the weekend. Eddie had arrived back from the trail yesterday in a state, his mind hazy. His memory was fogged, his breathing heavy as he sucked in air trying not to sob. He thought back to yesterday, when Richie has grabbed his hand to examine the watch. It flashed something inside his brain that he'd been hoping to forget

"Alright Eddie, what's the time?" His father spoke, the 13 year old looking up at him. He held out his hand for Roger to take ahold of it to turn on his wrist watch. His father smiled at him, before rubbing circles in his hand. He started giggling before pulling his hand back and running off down the trail, to where their car was parked. His mother was stood waiting there for him as he run up to her, grasping her in a hug.

"FUCK!" Eddie screamed, before running out of his room and into the bathroom, locking the door. The tears were still streaming down his face as he examined himself in the mirror, trying to hold the tears in. After a few minutes he calmed himself down, reaching into the cabinet to take some pills. He then left the room, going back into the mess he'd just made. He stepped past the glass, pulling a pillow up onto his bed along with a blanket as his covers were halfway across the room. He then lay down, closing his eyes and thinking of anything but that day.

———————-

"Yes stan, i'm fine" Eddie said into the phone, Sunday afternoon. He had the cord tangled around his finger as the phone was held close to his ear. Stanley mumbled something before sighing, claiming he needed to go. They said their goodbyes before Eddie put the phone down. He went over to the calendar, putting a ginormous X through the 30th of November. Today was the start of a new month, so he pulled it into December. He examined through, until his eyes stopped on a date. December 13th marked with the words "Dads day."

Eddie suddenly couldn't breath again, as he shut the calendar completely. He ran over to the phone dialling Stanley again. When he didn't pick up, Eddie dialled the only other person he could think of. "Hello?" He hears on the other line, the person sounding like they'd just woken up. "Rich," Eddie started, feeling tears starting to fall from his eyes. "Rich, can you come to mine? Please?" His voice breaks halfway through as he starts to cry harder. He hears the other side go silent for a moment before Richie is claiming he's leaving now and will be there shortly, before he hangs up.

There's a knock at the door five minutes later, as Eddie all about spirts to answer, falling into Richies arms. Richie is stroking his hair while pulling him inside the house while Eddie cries. This is the second time Richie's held Eddie while he's broke down in the last couple of months he's known him. When he finally calms down, they're cuddling on the couch the light from outside coming in from the curtains. "The calendar." He says, startling Richie with his voice. "What about it?" He asks, looking down at the boy. "December 13. Dads day." He says, snuggling his head into Richies side.

"Dads day? But fathers day is in june?" He says, still confused. "No, dads day Rich. My dads day." He says, his voice quiet. Then it clicks, as he says "Oh." Richie realises he's never met Eddies dad, nor has he heard anything about him. "Yeah, oh." Eddie says, yawning a little. "Mums back soon." He says, finally looking up at Richie a bit surprised that he's met with the boys eyes staring into his own. Richie just nods, starting to get up while pulling the other boy up with him.

"If you want to talk about it, i'm always here Ed's." He smiles slightly, squeezing the boys hand. Eddie smiles before nodding as they walk to the door. Once Richie is gone, Eddie goes up to his now clean room after he spent hours cleaning up after his episode yesterday. He lay down on his bed, sighing slightly. He hears the front door open again after a while, his mum calling out to him that she's back. He just shouts down something barley audible, before rollling over and falling asleep.