take me away (reddie)

eighteen

eddie stayed quieter than usual, enjoying the chatter as he watched his friends talk and interact with each other. richie went onto his rant of childhood stories. most of them were funnier than they should have been.

"alright, time for the real fun to start." beverly got up from her seat as richie cheered, causing eddie to cover his ear.

he knew what this meant.

beverly held up the bag of rolling paper and the crumbs of a particular green plant from mike's truck.

marijuana.

eddie watched richie jump up and walk over to beverly, still clapping his hands in happiness.

stanley clears his voice. "i'll have one too."

eddie glances at stanley before back down at his feet. if stanley smoked pot, how bad could it be? stanley's the most religious out of any of them. in fact, he still goes to the temple with his father to help out sometimes.

eddie watched richie hand stanley's blunt to him before sitting back down beside eddie. he looked up at richie, his eyes wide with the corners downturned as if he was begging.

richie looked down at eddie, almost gasping out of surprise. "do you want to try it, eds?"

eddie nodded.

before richie could say his next sentence, eddie remembered what he said earlier that day.

use your words.

"yes, please." eddie swallowed harshly. he had always been curious about the desirable drug; why it made people feel so good and why richie was always high. "please, richie."

richie looked at beverly who was looking at them, and then over at stanley who had a shocked expression on his face. "do you have your-"

"inhaler, yes. it's in my pocket. let me try it, please. please, richie, please." eddie begged, a small filter of desperation in his voice. eddie thought he needed this. after the shit he's been through in the past couple days, he can at least do this.

richie sighed out shakily. he hands the blunt to eddie slowly. eddie takes it between his pointer and middle fingers, richie nodding in confirmation in the way that eddie was holding it. eddie put it up to his mouth and inhaled, sucking at the waxy paper.

smoke filled eddie's mouth as the others stared at him in case if they needed to jump up and help him. eddie blew the smoke out, coughing only a bit. it took everyone by surprise as eddie went back in for a second hit.

richie took it away after that. "it's called puff-puff-pass for a reason, eds." he laughed as eddie nodded, laughing a bit with richie.

the group of friends didn't even touch the s'mores ingredients the entire night. they were already so entertained with each other. the only really sober one there was mike. ben had even taken a couple hits from beverly's, not enough to get him giggly, though.

on the other hand, richie just gave eddie the blunt he had and rolled a new one for himself. eddie was pretty long gone from earth. his eyes were red and a bit droopy as his words seemed fuzzy. everything seemed fuzzy. it was a different feeling than the alcohol. the alcohol was sharp and blurry. marijuana was softer and fuzzy. it made everything in eddie relax, not just his mind.

eddie was leaned onto richie's shoulder, the blanket pulled over the boys' laps. richie's hand was laid across eddie's thigh. it had been there for the majority of the night, and eddie wouldn't have it differently.

"so richie, hows dani?" eddie slurred out, lifting his head.

richie clenched his jaw as her name was mentioned, especially coming from eddie. "she's...well. thank you for asking."