𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡.

𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 | 𝐞

"Hey, look who's finally awake." He heard, and felt a soft touch on the top of his head. Eddie opened his eyes to see Richie looking at him with a soft smile - one didn't melt away until he saw Eddie's condition.

"I was asleep...?" Eddie asked, confused. He didn't remember falling asleep, and he certainly didn't recall waking up.

"Not for too long." Richie replied, moving Eddie's hair back from his face. Richie's eyes were almost illuminated from the glowing fire next to him. The night air was heavy and humid from the rain early that day, almost pressing down on Eddie as he sat up against the armrest of the bench. He felt how he usually felt after a nap - disoriented, still slightly fatigued, but he was coming to his senses nonetheless. His eyes fluttered, adjusting to the light after glancing back at the lit fire of amber and crimson hue.

He glanced back at Richie, who now had a nervous smirk on his face.

Oh god.

"What?" Eddie said, curious as to what Richie was scheming.

"Don't be mad." Richie replied, looking behind himself for a moment. Eddie's eyes squinted and his brow raised.

"I was kind of stingy with filling up the gas tank the other day. We may or may not be almost out of gas." Richie said, gulping a bit. "So, what if we just stayed here for the night? Plus, it's dark and you're probably tired anyways." Richie looked back at Eddie for approval.

Richie's eyes were shifting.

"Uh.. yeah, sure." Eddie said, not completely focusing on what he was agreeing to. He couldn't focus on anything - his brain was foggy, and he felt as if he were barely breathing, despite his breathing being incredibly labored.

"Oh. Well, that was easier than I thought." Richie said, sighing from relief. "I mean, we really had no other choice, so asking you was just a formality. What was I supposed to do, drag the car to the nearest gas station which is who knows where? Also, Bev's been bothering me about us leaving and she's practically begging us to stay another day, and as much as I don't feel like getting on the road for hours and driving through places which are probably haunted, I sure as hell don't want to stay here any longer. Like have you felt this god awful weather? You know what - there's no way this town is haunted, even ghosts wouldn't haunt this shithole of place-"

Eddie pretty much stopped listening to a word Richie said after 'that was easier than I thought'. He wasn't even annoyed by Richie's rambling - that meant at least something had stayed the same: when given an opportunity Richie Tozi er would talk. Forever, it seemed. Until being told to stop. And sometimes, even beyond then. To Eddie, sometimes it felt like when Richie was talking, he wasn't even listening, he was just waiting to start talking again. Especially in the old days - Eddie used to be bothered by his talking, but now he didn't mind it at all. Sometimes he wished Richie would keep talking so Eddie didn't have to ever say anything - he wouldn't have to think of something witty to say or something interesting, he could just wait for Richie to fill in all of the gaps.

Eddie remembered back in middle school he and Richie could never sit next to each other, because they'd always get in trouble for talking in class - really, it was Eddie talking so much as it was Richie starting a conversation out of almost nothing

Eddie didn't want to be here. He didn't want to think about Derry, or anything that happened in the past, as much as it shaped him into the person he was today. He wanted to be with Richie, anywhere. He was fully convinced that nothing could change that.