Reddie One Shots

The Summer of '94

The summer of '94 was especially hot. Temperatures had reached an all time high for the decade. Eddie lay sprawled out on the picnic blanket he had brought over to Richie's at the beginning of summer, looking up at the clouds. Simple things like this helped to keep his mind off of the elephant in the room.

It was the end of July, and every day was starting to seem shorter and shorter. He felt like there was a ticking bomb about to explode any time he thought about what came next. Bev had moved away 5 years ago now, Ben not long after her. They didn't see much of Mike except for the summer, and even now it felt like their group had still split.

Richie and Eddie still hadn't told anyone about them, although Eddie suspected Stan knew by how he looked at the two of them any time they were together. None of their parents knew, none of their friends knew, so the best they could do for the most part was to make up little lies to be together and do what little they could to pretend to be normal.

"Are you done yet, dickwad?" Eddie called from Richie's backyard, his voice carrying through the kitchen window.

"Fuck off, dipshit!" Richie yelled back, throwing a sleeve of crackers and some Kraft singles onto a plate for him and Eddie to snack on.

He picked up the tray, grabbed two bottles of Coke, and kicked the back door open.

Richie plopped down on the blanket, handing Eddie one of the bottles and setting the plate down between the two of them. He looked over at Eddie. His skin had a golden tan to it, somehow without burning. It was probably thanks to the sunscreen he insisted on slathering on every hour. His face was decorated with a few more freckles than usual, and the sun had made his hair lighten up a bit. Richie could have stared at him for hours.

"You're acting like you've never seen me before," Eddie teased, opening his drink and taking a sip.

"Shall I compare thee to a Summer day?"

"No," Eddie reached for a cracker on the plate.

"You're hot as fuck."

"You know that's basically just condensed chemicals, right?" Eddie pointed at the kraft singles that Richie hadn't even bothered to unwrap.

"Says the guy drinking a Coke."

Eddie didn't say anything, just sipped his Coke uncomfortably before he looked back over at Richie, whose eyes were bulging out of his head.

"You're staring again," he teased, but felt a blush run across his cheeks.

Richie sighed and looked up at the sky, the clouds reflecting in his glasses. Richie was still pale, just like he had been at the beginning of the summer, probably because he spent most of it in the arcade. He had grown his hair out some, and even though Eddie complained about it at length, it suited him.

"Don't leave," Eddie blurted out before he could stop himself.

"What?" Richie looked over at him.

"Don't..." Eddie was looking down at the bottle in his hands. It was easier than looking at Richie. "Don't leave."

Richie was quiet for a bit. For all the talking he did, he had been avoiding this discussion like the plague. Somewhere deep down he knew they would have to talk about it sooner or later. "Eddie-"

"It's just college. You can go somewhere else. Somewhere closer. Maybe Bangor? My aunts live up there, so my mom might let me go. We could go together-"

"Eddie," Richie said quietly, but Eddie kept rambling over him.

"-or maybe even state? I know you didn't want to go to a huge party school but they have lots of opportunities for open mics and stuff there, I've looked it up and they still have a really good film program-"