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❀ t h r e e ❀

The morning came with the sunlight beaming into Richie's room. They all slept in late after having a late night last night. Richie awoke first feeling very much hungover. He sat up feeling dizzy and got up to go get some water and aspirin.

"Ow, what the fuck?!" Eddie calls out, pulling his hand away in pain. Richie looks down at the small boy and realizes he must've stepped on his hand.

"Oops, sorry Eddie," Richie croaks out in his raspy morning voice that Eddie adored. "Need me to kiss it?" he jokes.

"Gross," Eddie replies but secretly thinks about how cute that would be. He sits up too, climbing out of his sleeping bag to follow Richie downstairs. They sit down on the couch together, facing each other with a good distance between them.

"Hey, Rich," Eddie starts, "about last night-"

"I'm gonna be honest with you Eds, I don't remember much," Richie lies. He remembers exactly what it felt like holding Eddie's hands and dancing with the cute boy. He remembers Eddie hugging him in comfort. He remembers wanting to hold Eddie's hand as he fell asleep last night. But he didn't want to talk about it. Because he didn't understand it or why he felt that way.

"Oh," Eddie says, trying not to sound disappointed.

"Helpfully nothing too embarrassing?" Richie questions.

"No, nothing crazy," Eddie replies, "just failing at trying to dance."

"Hey! I can dance!" Richie says in mock offense.

"Not when you're intoxicated," Eddie laughs. And there's that feeling again. Richie always gets it in his stomach when he hears Eddie's adorable laugh that radiates pure sunshine and happiness.

"You can't dance either way though, Spaghetti," Richie teases.

"Yeah but I didn't make a fool of myself last night," Eddie retorts.

"Which one of us had more fun though?" Richie retaliates.

"You guys are already arguing?" Beverly asks, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she heads down the stairs, followed by most of the others.

"Nah, just messing with Spaghetti Man here," Richie replies, pinching Eddie's cheeks.

"Stop that," Eddie whines. Though he secretly liked it, he'd never admit it.

"Are we still going to the quarry today?" Stan asks as he settles on the other couch.

"Fuck yeah!" Richie answers.

"Can we at least get lunch first?" Ben asks from his position on the floor.

"Of course, Haystack," Richie replies using one of his ridiculous voices, "We wouldn't want ya going hungry now would we!"

He sees Stan roll his eyes but he doesn't care, all he notices is Eddie fighting back a smile at him.

All of the boys and Beverly get ready for the day, getting dressed and brushing their teeth before heading to the local diner. They are old enough to drive, but only Bill and Mike brought their cars. Bill, Stan, Richie, and Eddie are in one car, and Mike, Beverly, and Ben are in the other. Richie's parents couldn't afford a car for him while Eddie's mom insisted it was too dangerous for her precious son to be behind the wheel.

"Richie, would you please put your fucking seat belt on," Eddie says. The two boys are in the back seat because Stan insists he needs to sit shotgun or he'll get carsick.

"We're going like two blocks," Richie responds.

"So?" Eddie replies, "Do you know how dangerous it is if we were to get in an accident? Do you know the death rate is so much higher for those who aren't wearing a seatbelt during an accident? You could go flying through the windshield! And my mom told me about someone who did that and the glass sliced their anus off! Do you want to be without an asshole for the rest of your life?"