mixtape (reddie)

Chapter 57

As graduation grows closer and closer, it seems like the only thing anybody can talk about is how excited they are to go to college.

The snow starts to melt sometime around late March. Richie's birthday passes by without any interruptions, and it seems to be the last time that all of his friends gather in one room.

Richie has settled and come to terms with the fact that things won't ever be the same way that they used to. Not that he really minds, mostly because he's so happy with the way they are now. Some days, he spends an afternoon at Stan's house watching comedy special reruns on the Uris television while Stan folds origami birds to send home with Richie. Other times, Ben and Mike will invite Richie out to play a game of football in the pastures Mike owns. Richie still doesn't know how to play, but he finds it exciting anyways. On days he doesn't feel like going outside, he sits in Bill's bedroom and they talk about the music they share, the universe, and the fashion that Freddie Mercury wears. He doesn't think the losers club will ever be playing DnD like they once would, but they're all grown up now. Issues have been resolved, problems have been taken care of. Now, everyone is just peaceful. Richie doesn't want it to be disrupted, no more waves in his ocean.

Most of his days are spent wherever Eddie is, and more often than not, that's out at the Bowers residence. Richie doesn't mind much now that the weather is warmer, except the April showers are certainly preparing to bring May flowers.

Richie looks up from where he's sheltered under the garage door, watching the two boys bending over the hood of a beat up car and point a flashlight at something that seems to be the root of their issues. Henry's hands grind a wrench against the part while Eddie keeps the flashlight steady, car grease smeared on his cheek.

Richie looks back down at the pamphlet he's reading, a collection of motivational poetry that his therapist has given him. That's another thing that's changed, but perhaps this change was for the better. Richie and Henry see different therapists, but their methods are practically the same. Talk about your feelings, identify what's stressing you out, explain why you don't feel worthy of love.

Richie thinks the poetry is bullshit, but he must admit that the sessions are helping him organize everything in his brain. He didn't fully realize just how much he's had to go through, but now he's getting his life back on track. His therapist tells him that he's a "survivor" and that Richie has this natural instinct to kick his legs and swim upwards whenever someone tries to hold him under water.

"Hey, whatcha readin'?" Eddie's voice interrupts the river of thoughts flowing through Richie's mind.

The boy looks up at his eternal love and feels a smile come on, shaking his head and folding up the pamphlet he was given at his last session. "Nothing, nothing. You guys get it started?"

"Henry says the alternator is shot so he's gonna go scavenge some from the junk yard," Eddie shrugs. "I can't go with him."

Richie opens his mouth to ask why not, but then he catches sight of the slight tension in Eddie's shoulders. The one that builds right before his temper gets the best of him. It's not necessarily even a temper, it's more so just his uncontrollable thoughts and feelings all bubbling up and boiling over the edge.

The junkyard. He knows why Eddie can't go there, probably for the same reason Richie can't go back down his old street. Seeing new owners in a house full of sad memories just fills him with some sort of grief that makes his lungs shake. He assumes it feels worse for Eddie.

"Wanna go get somethin' to eat, hot stuff?" Richie asks instead, changing the subject entirely.

"Yeah," Eddie holds his hand out for Richie to take. "Hen can give us a ride."