Do Not Fucking Touch Me // Reddie

Six

(Richie's POV)

I woke up thinking the day before was just a figment of my imagination. I kissed Eddie. It really happened. No dream, no hallucination. I wish I had done better. I could've picked a better moment. He was crying, he seemed really upset. I hoped he liked it. I was trying to cheer him up, mainly. I cared a lot about Eddie. I knew he had a lot of troubles at home. I liked him a lot actually. I saw him in ways that others couldn't. I knew he was braver and stronger than he gave himself credit for. He was possibly the kindest and most thoughtful person I'd ever met. And I was horrible to him. I never knew how to talk to him, all I could do was insult him. Him crying about that and telling me it hurt really got to me. I felt my heart stop beating when I kissed him. 

My heart raced thinking about him. I buried my face in a pillow. I smiled with my eyes shut. I rolled over and picked up the phone and rang the number. He picked up right away.

"Eddie. Hi," I said. I was glad he couldn't see me blushing.

"Richie-I. My mom-I," he couldn't even form a sentence.

He started crying.

"Eddie! Eds what's wrong?" 

"My mom said I can't be friends with you anymore." 

He kept sobbing. I wanted to hug him, to hold him, to tell him everything was going to be alright. I knew that's not how he felt, I knew his mom hated us for the fact that he broke his arm.

"Eddie, it's gonna be okay," I tried to reassure him.

"How?" he shouted in-between sobs.

"I don't know," I said. I was being honest. I was hoping his mom would just drop dead or something so I could be with him.

"But we'll figure it out, okay?" 

He sniffled. He was trying to stop crying. It made me sad. 

"Richie?" he asked softly.

"Yes, Eds?" I replied promptly. I tried to sound as sweet as possible to him in this rough situation of his.

"Will you run away with me?" He asked. I gulped. I wanted to say yes. I wanted to say yes so badly. What would my parents think? 

But I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to see him happy. 

"I will," I finally decided, "I'm going to come by when your mom's asleep. Pack a bag. For now I can hide you in my room until we come up with a plan."

He stops crying. "Okay. I'll call you back when she does."

"I'll see you then," I say. 

"Eddie?" I can hear his mom say from the other room. 

"Yeah mom?" he asks, and slams the phone down. 

I hope she didn't hear him. 

Later that day...

I sat on my bed by the phone all day, anticipating it to ring. It didn't for hours. Maybe five hours. I read some comic books, listened to some songs on my walkman, all the while I was waiting for it. The anticipation took me by such surprise that when it actually did ring, I nearly had a heart attack. My heartbeat continued to beat fast and I picked it up. 

"Eddie," I said.

"She's asleep. Hurry," he whispered.

"Okay. See you soon." 

I hung up and ran out of my room. 

"Richie, did you clean your room?" my mom asks as I ran through the house.

"Yes mom! Can I have Eddie over?"

"Uh.. sure," she said. She shrugged it off and continued to wash the dishes. I bolted out the door and grabbed my bike that was rested against the fence. I quickly hopped on and pedaled fast towards his house.

When I get there, I throw the bike on the sidewalk and run to the backyard. I picked up pebbles from the ground and began tossing them at Eddie's window. 

I saw his cute little head pop in view and I smiled immediately. He opened his window.

"Hi," I said looking up in awe.

"Hi." He pulled out his suitcase. "Um... How am I supposed to get down?" 

"Uhh..." I said and looked around. I saw a ladder two doors down propped up against a treehouse. I ran over and carried it back. It was extremely heavy. I leaned it against Eddie's house as quietly as I could. 

"I can't climb down and carry my suitcase both," he says.

"Throw it," I suggested. He does and it landed a few feet away. I hoped he hadn't pack anything valuable.

He begins to climb down hurriedly and when he reaches the bottom, he jumps into my arms. He holds me tightly and rubs the back of my head with his hand. He looked back at me and smiled weakly with tears in his eyes. I put a hand on his cheek and rubbed it with my thumb. 

I kissed him. This time I did it right. The timing, holding him, the length of it all, it all was amazing. After, he hugged me again, even tighter. He smiled brightly. I didn't see that smile on him that often. 

"You ready?" he asked. I nodded. We walked over to the sidewalk and I got on my bike. He took a seat on the handlebars. 

I knew in that moment I wanted to try everything I could to keep Eddie Kapsbrack safe.