𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡.

𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐲 | 𝐫

Richie found himself in a bathroom, again. He locked the door behind him, leaving the doorknob moist from his hands, which were sweating his nervousness. He looked at the mirror, trying to take deep breaths. Everything was fine. Eddie being drunk didn't mean anything - he just happened to be drunk, and that's that. He kept repeating reassuring things in his head, but he felt his eyes start to get wet. He looked up, staring at the ceiling, trying to suppress the tears. He looked back into the mirror, seeing his face get a bit red. He felt like he was suffocating, and part of him wished he actually were.

A sudden realization hit Richie - Both times the two of them almost did something or did do something, Eddie was drunk.

It's just a coincidence.

He looked at the side of the mirror and saw a small glass handle that had a small crack in it. He grabbed it, opening the mirror, revealing a medicine cabinet.

He took a deep breath again and looked behind him to ensure the door was still locked. He turned back to the cabinet, looking through it to see what was in it. Mostly vitamins, some prescription opioids, some allergy medicine. He touched one of the orange bottles with a white, child-proof lock and a label with a date, the amount prescribed, and a name - Zack Denbrough. It belonged to Bill's dad. He held it in his hands, then looked back into the cabinet, there was a bottle of Lexapro. His heart dropped. He knew it was Bill's. Bill started taking Lexapro after his brother died, as an attempt to help him with his severe anxiety. Richie looked back at the bottle in his hands. Guilt started manifesting itself within Richie. Here he was, feeling sorry for himself over nothing when someone's brother was dead. When Stanley was dead.

"It would be really fucked if you did this." he muttered, putting the bottle back into the cabinet, and shutting the glass door.

He heard a knock on the door. "Richie?"

It was Eddie. Richie threw his head back, then sat down beside the door.

"Richie, is that you?" Eddie said, slurring his words a bit, but clearly trying to act as if he weren't completely drunk.

"Yeah, yeah it's me." Richie said, in a monotone, exhausted tone.

"Can you come out here and talk to me?" Eddie said.

Richie stood up reluctantly, and opened the door to see Eddie, who was clearly wasted and oblivious to anything going on. Richie squinted his eyes from concern and lifted Eddie's head up to his eye level. "Jesus christ, you look like shit." He said, surprised at how low of an alcohol tolerance Eddie had. He'd clearly only had a couple of beers because Richie had hardly noticed him drinking the entire evening.

"Wow, thanks." Eddie said, sitting on the ground and trying to catch his breath.

"What, did you run all the way to the bathroom just to see me?" Richie said sarcastically, laughing at the pathetic state Eddie was in.

"Actually, yeah. And to throw up." Eddie replied.

Richie couldn't tell if Eddie was joking about the first part of his statement, but the second part was definitely true, based off of the look on his face.

"You should leave, unless you want me to throw up on you..." Eddie said, leaning over the toilet, waiting for his nausea to catch up with him.

"I don't think you should be alone like this-" Richie was cut off by Eddie throwing up, and mostly all of it making it into the toilet.

Richie winced a bit, trying to keep himself from gagging. "Okay, just stay there," He said, sighing. "I'll get you some wa-"

Eddie continued to throw up, and Richie rushed beside him to pull his curly brown hair back from his face. He flushed the toilet once he knew Eddie was done.

"Wow, this is so sexy." Richie said sarcastically, smirking.

"Shut up," Eddie said, out of breath, and sitting against one of the corners of the wall next to the toilet.

Richie slightly smiled, but his smile faded after doing a double-take at Eddie. His state became less amusing, and more concerning.

"Why though, Eddie?" He asked, referring to why Eddie had been drinking so much. He sat next to him, smelling the vomit on his breath, but not minding too much any more.

"I mean, come on. It's a party." Eddie said, smiling again, for some reason. He was a bit too cheerful for someone who'd practically just spewed out a week's worth of food. Eddie touched Richie's shoulder, and in reaction he pulled back a little bit, with a confused expression.

"In hindsight, maybe I shoulda not drank as much since you need someone to take care of you." Eddie said, slurring his words.

Richie was caught off guard for a moment. "What?" He said, a bit defensively.

"I mean, just so you'll be less lonely." Eddie continued.

Richie felt a bit suffocated and, to be frank, annoyed, but he tried not to react, only because he new Eddie was drunk and probably should be ignored in terms of conversation for the time being.

Richie stood up, "So...I'm gonna go get that water for you now."

"Ugh, water? Why not juice? Apple juice sounds so good right now..." Eddie trailed off.

"Too bad, you're getting water," Richie said, as he left the room, and shut the door slightly.

He navigated his way to the kitchen, and saw Mike coming in. "You coming back outside?" Mike asked, as Richie looked into the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water near the back that hopefully wasn't already opened. "Yeah, once Eddie stops throwing up. He decided to make some interesting choices tonight." Richie replied, muttering the last part.

"Sounds fun." Mike sarcastically said, shutting the door as he went back out.

Richie blocked out everything else, specifically trying not to think about Eddie's off-color remark about how he "needed someone". Richie knew he definitely wasn't the most self-sufficient, but he was pretty sure he didn't "need someone". He felt dumb for even giving the time of day to the words of someone who was so plastered they could barely even stand.

He walked back in, seeing Eddie against the wall with his eyes closed. Richie stopped at the door, and a look of panic flashed through his widened eyes. He knelt down and waved his hand in front of the boy's face. Eddie's eyelashes fluttered and he opened his eyes, flinching when he saw Richie's hand in front of his path of vision. Eddie laughed a bit at Richie. "Wait, did you think I was dead?" He said, still laughing.

Richie released a breath of relief, and stood back up. "Not funny." He said, opening the bottle of water and handing it to Eddie. "You didn't have to go so hard tonight you know." Richie said. "Just because it's a party doesn't mean you have to go past your limit." He watched Eddie drink the water, seeming to not even be listening to Richie's words. "Hello?" He said, trying to get Eddie to listen to him.

Richie sighed, and sat next to Eddie again, realizing it was pointless to give him a lecture on something while he wouldn't even remember anything that happened tonight. He felt Eddie's hand touch his shoulder again, but this time, he didn't pull away. "You need to focus on feeling better." Richie said dismissively, trying not to give too much attention to Eddie's ridiculousness. Eddie got closer, and Richie nervously smiled. "Eddie, I'm not gonna kiss you, you literally just threw up, and not to be mean, but your breath smells like a dumpster fire." He looked at Eddie's eyes and saw them welling up with tears. He looked scared- not scared, but petrified.

"Wait, I was just kidding. I can kiss you if that's what you want?" Richie was confused, and didn't understand what was happening.

"No," Eddie muttered.

"Eddie, why?" Richie asked again, lowering his voice.

...

"I miss him so much." Eddie said.

Richie's face softened, and he let Eddie hug him. He felt his salty tears wet the shirt he was wearing, but he liked it better than way.

"Yeah... I know." Richie said.