Fix Me // Reddie

Chapter Three - Dinosaur Shirts and Yellow Sweaters

Richie's Pov

Richie stood in front of his closet, tossing funky colored shirts and shorts through his room, trying to find the perfect outfit. It was Friday night, the night that he was going to have to sit on Bill's old couch next to Eddie and face emotions that he had chosen not to think about in a year.

He had started to lose hope in finding the perfect shirt to wear until he saw something green at the bottom of his closet. He picked up the lime green shirt, blowing the dust off of it, and saw that it was covered in little silver dinosaurs. Filled with excitement over his discovery, he turned to Stanley, awaiting his opinion. "Whatcha think?"

"No," Stanley said, pushing a pair of gray shorts off of his shoulder.

"Why not?" Richie asked, walking over to his bed. He grabbed a pair of purple shorts and held them up with the shirt.

"That's going to make you look like Barney."

"What's wrong with Barney?" Richie asked.

"He's a singing dinosaur."

"I see no problem with that, Stannie."

Ignoring Stan's constant objections, Richie wore the dinosaur outfit.

~ ~ ~

By the time the two boys made it to Bill Denbrough's door, Richie's hands were shaking and he was beginning to think he made the wrong choice. When Stanley first brought up the idea of restarting movie night, Richie had demanded that they wouldn't go. How was he supposed to walk into Bill's house and sit next to Eddie and pretend things were normal?

Eventually Stan bribed him with a blue raspberry slushie and Richie agreed to go.

Stanley knocked on the large white door and they heard footsteps from inside. The crashing fear of knowing Eddie was inside wafted through Richie's veins again, and he tugged on the sleeve of Stanley's gray hoodie. A gray hoodie that was out of character for Stanley's normally neat wardrobe, and came from Bill Denbrough's closet. Of course, Richie didn't pick up on this.

"Stanley, I can't do this," Richie whispered, looking desperately at his friend.

"Richie, what's the worst that could happen?"

Before Richie had time to imagine a million possible disastrous scenarios, the door opened and Eddie was standing there in front of him. "Hey," Eddie said, looking right at Richie, as if Stanley was invisible. Richie opened his mouth to respond but his throat was dry and he struggled to form words. Why was he feeling like this? Wasn't he supposed to be mad?

"Hey, Eddie," Stanley said, putting his hand on Richie's shoulder and gently pushing him forward. Eddie smiled and his yellow sweater seemed to glow under the porch light.

Richie had always loved it when Eddie wore yellow. The color seemed to fit the asthmatic boy perfectly, at least in Richie's eyes. He always saw yellow as a symbol of hope and happiness, and while Eddie may be a spitfire of energy, he had always made Richie happy.

Bill suddenly appeared in the doorway and grabbed Stanley by the arm, pulling him into the house. "You g-g-guys are g-going to let b-b-bugs into the h-hou-house," Bill stuttered.

"Sorry," Stan said, pink splotches rising on his cheeks as he closed the door behind Richie. Seeing his friend blush, Richie slung his arm over Bill's shoulder.

"So Bill," Richie began to ask, a suspicious smirk growing on his face. "When are you going to ask my man Noodles out on a date?"

Bill's face went a deep shade of magenta as he tried to form words. "I, umm, I-I-I."