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❀ f i v e ❀

They all got into their respective cars and headed over to the quarry. Richie put his seatbelt on this time, to which Eddie smiled to himself.

They all get undressed, piling their clothes in a pile under a bush, out of plain sight. Stan folds his clothes neatly and sighs. Bill offers to put his clothes beneath Stanley's so his clothes wouldn't be sitting in the dirt. Stan graciously accepts, smiling widely at the boy.

Richie pulls his shirt over his head and catches Eddie looking.

"Like what you see?" Richie wiggles his eyebrows. Eddie rolls his eyes, but Richie can see the blush forming beneath his freckles as Eddie pulls off his own shirt. Richie doesn't look away as Eddie undresses, taking in every inch of his body. Eddie looks over at Richie and raises his eyebrows, and Richie quickly looks away, cheeks turning red.

What was that? Richie asks himself.

Is Richie blushing?! Eddie thinks.

In an effort to move on, Richie takes off, running to the edge of the cliff and jumping into a cannonball. "Last one in is a rotten piece of shit!" Richie yells.

Beverly quickly jumps after Richie, followed by all the others. Unfortunately for Eddie, he was furthest from the cliff and therefore the last one in the lake.

"Eds is a rotten piece of shit," Richie teases.

"Shut up, Richie," Eddie retorts, "At least I don't smell like a piece of shit."

"Wow," Richie says, "Did you hear what Eddie said about you, Ben?" He gives Ben a sympathetic look and pats his shoulder. "I can't believe you'd be so rude to our good friend." Ben just sighs.

"I was talking about you, idiot!" Eddie screeches. Richie responds by splashing Eddie. Because he is yelling, his mouth is open, and some of the water ends up in his mouth. He thinks back to what Richie said about fish peeing in the water, and he begins spitting the water out like crazy, desperate to get it off his tongue.

"Pfft, blech blech blech!" Eddie spits.

"Damn, you're like a fucking sprinkler," Richie says, wiping his face off. Eddie responds by splashing Richie, which only incites Richie to splash him again. Soon, the boys are enthralled in a full-on water fight.

Richie hides behind Beverly, who then gets splashed by Eddie instead.

"Oh, it's so on!" Beverly says and begins splashing Eddie. She ends up splashing Bill too, who then joins in. Mike, Ben, and Stan join in too, and everyone begins splashing each other. Their laughs and giggles echo around the quarry. The teens get to enjoy a moment together in pure bliss and happiness.

"Look who it is," Henry seethes. Victor, Belch, and Henry join him at the top of the cliff, peering over the edge at the favorite targets.

"Fucking losers," Patrick mumbles, angrily. He turns and motions for them to follow as they take the long way to the bottom of the quarry.

"Wait," Henry says, peering at the losers' pile of clothes. It's a cliché prank, sure, but that doesn't stop them. He looks up at the others who smile back knowingly before each grabbing a handful of clothing.

"Chicken fights! I call Eddie!" Richie yells, grabbing onto the small boy.

"Richie, I don't know if this is a good idea," Eddie panics.

"You're gonna be fine, Eds," Richie reassures him, "I promise."

Eddie gives in before climbing on top of the curly-haired boy's shoulders.

"A-ah!" Eddie says, clearly terrified as Richie stands up. Richie tightly grabs onto Eddie's thighs to keep him in place. Eddie glances down and blushes, realizing how intimate this position was. As Richie begins walking, Eddie grabs onto the boy's black curls in fear of falling.

"How'd you know I was into hair-pulling?" Richie asks, and Eddie can hear the smirk on his face.

"Oh my god Richie, shut up," Eddie sighs.

"Who wants to face off?" Richie asks, daring the others as he spins towards them, almost throwing Eddie off, his face expressing his pure panic.

"S-Stan, get on m-my sh-shoulders," Bill says. Stan climbs on. Ben looks at Beverly, his eyebrows raised in question, and she just giggles before nodding and climbing onto his shoulders. Richie moves through the water as quickly as he can over to the others.

"Slow down!" Eddie calls out, and Richie ignores him.

Stan goes to push Eddie, but Eddie stops him, their hands interlocking as they push against each other. Beverly and Ben come over and Beverly pushes Stan, causing Bill to lose balance, and they almost topple over. Eddie takes the opportunity to push Stan again, and he falls into the water. He comes back up, his wet curls pressed to his forehead. Bill pushes Stan's hair out of his eyes so he can see while the others laugh. The two stare at each other for a second and blush before turning away.

" I did it!" Eddie yells, excitedly before Beverly quickly shoves him off Richie's shoulders, and he goes splashing into the water.

"You should've seen your face!" Beverly laughs as Eddie resurfaces.

"I don't like this game," Eddie says simply, earning more laughs from the others.

"C'mon Eds, you gotta last longer than a few seconds at least!" Richie jokes and winks at the boy with a suggestive grin on his face.

"Huh?" Eddie puzzles.

"Ignore him," Ben says, shaking his head.

"OH!" Eddie says, realizing and turning to Richie, "You're disgusting."

"Just giving some solid advice, Edward," Richie shrugs. "Another round?" He looks at the others who nod in agreement. Eddie just looks at him. "Edwardo, you need to redeem yourself."

Eddie looks into Richie's pleading brown eyes and gives in.

"Only one more," Eddie says, seriously.

He climbs on top of Richie's shoulders and the others do the same. Mike laughs as they try to push each other and go splashing into the water. The sounds of their joyful laughs fill the air as the group of best friends splash around, happy to feel like a normal group of teenagers. After a while of splashing and giggling, they all swim around aimlessly.

"I gotta get home," Eddie sighs.

"Me too," Mike adds.

The others nod and begin making their way out of the water. They shiver slightly as the water drips from their skin and they climb back up to the top where they left their clothes.