reddie oneshots

the fence

"richie, where are we going?" eddie asked quietly. "and... why do you have a knife?" his eyes widened upon seeing the blade that the older boy held in his pale hand.

"don't worry. i'm not gonna kill you or anything." richie offered a weak smile in return, but his boyfriend's eyes just shifted sadly to the floor. "oh... sorry."

it was coming up to almost two years since the incident at neibolt street, which eddie was still terrified about. everyone was still friends, even beverly kept in touch with the boys. but richie and eddie's relationship grew stronger than ever and before they knew it, they were going out with each other. (but of course they kept it to themselves. they didn't want to be known as fags more than they already were.)

"it... it's fine." he looked back up, smiling. "but seriously, where are we off to?"

"shh..." richie shoved his knife into the pocket of his shorts as he led the other boy out of his house. "you'll see." he held out his hand, an action to which eddie quickly responded to by jumping forward and grabbing it. richie smirked.

"that's my boy." he whispered to himself.

-

the two walked for a while, hand in hand, observing the late afternoon sky. it was about 6:30 when the sun began to go down and richie started to rub eddie's hand with his thumb. the smaller boy never really liked being out after sunset. "hey," he broke their silence, "we're almost there."

they never really talked much on their walks, which was a foreign concept for richie. although he was someone who usually struggled to keep his trash mouth shut, he knew that his boyfriend didn't particularly like everything he said, so he tried to keep as quiet as possible. after all, eddie loved it when it was just the two of them walking in silence. he got to take in his surroundings without much of a worry, something he was never really able to do in the years prior. but if he ever did feel anxiety bubbling in the pit of his stomach then he would ask richie to start talking. and he always would.

they walked down back routes to make sure nobody saw them. there was less of a threat now that bowers wasn't around anymore, but they were better safe than sorry. they still broke away whenever they saw a member of public though. they had a fear of judgement.

eddie's eyes wandered around the street as they walked by the library. he thought about the time he went there to study with richie a few years ago. they ended up getting kicked out due to richie's 'crude humour.' he thought of something and stopped for a second, but richie kept walking, causing him to trip and fall.

"fuck!" he said, a bit too loudly. "eds, are you okay?" he knelt down to him, pushing his glasses up.

"don't fucking call me that." he growled in reply.

"i-" started richie.

"i- i'm sorry. i didn't- it's okay." eddie winced, pushing himself off the floor. his knee was oozing a small amount of red.

"are you okay?" asked richie. "uh, the store's probably closed by now so i can't get you any bandages, uh, i could rip some of my shirt off and wrap it around your knee for you? i could take you back to my place-"

"richie, shut up. i'm fine." he spat out, a serious look on his face. as much as he loved the older boy getting protective over him, he wasn't the same kid as he was back then. even if he did get a little scared sometimes.

"...you sure, eds?" he laughed. eddie couldn't help but smile and punched him softly.

"keep walking."

-

"well... we are here!" announced richie in a posh british accent after not much longer walking. they had arrived at their destination: a bridge not too far away from the barrons. cars usually drove over in daylight, but rarely after seven o'clock.

"why are we here? you're not gonna jump, are you?"

"pssh, nah. i have no reason to end my life when i have you." the two felt blood rush to their cheeks. neither of them were the happiest of people, but they had each other, and that made them happy enough. however, the soft moment only lasted for a few seconds before richie pulled out the knife from his pocket.

"what are you gonna do with that?" eddie spoke slowly, in a higher pitch than what was normal for his voice.

"c'mere." richie took a few steps towards the fence that acted as a sort of barrier for the bridge. "take a look." he knelt down, his boyfriend quickly following suit.

the last few bits of sunlight in the sky allowed the two boys to see names and initials carved deeply into the piece of wooden fencing, some even in hearts. the bespectacled boy ran his calloused fingers over the splintered wood, thinking about all of the dead relationships that had been savoured on the makeshift barrier. it was sad. how many of them were even still together? were any of them dead? those questions lingered in the back of his mind. he never wanted to break up with his boy.

my boy. he thought to himself contently.

eddie, however, was fascinated at the mere concept of it. each of these relationships had meant a lot to the people in it at the time, so much that they had decided to leave a permanent mark in the world to symbolise their love for each other. he didn't notice how close he was to richie until he saw a little red patch on his knee as well as his own. he hoped he wouldn't care.

his hands mimicked every action that the other boy's made, until they met at a small part that was blank by the right side of the wood. the only other marking in that area was a barely visible "b+b." eddie frowned. but then their eyes met, faces inches away from each other.

"do you know why i took you here now?" richie asked. the other nodded.

"yeah, i..." he thought of what he wanted to say. "it's really nice of you." eddie grinned. "you can be real romantic when you want to be."

"it's not like i try to impress you or anything." he mumled, pressing the point of the knife against the wood. the smaller boy leaned his head on his shoulder as he began to work.

-

"there."

it was dark by the time it was finished. richie spent way too long on the carving he did. it was a big, clean cut R + E in a heart that took twenty minutes for him to perfect.

"dude, it's beautiful." eddie spoke lowly, his hand resting on richie's.

"did you just call me dude?" the other laughed.

"what, do you want me to call you baby boy instead?"

"oh, please! we all know i would be the one calling you baby boy."

"i hate that you're right." he yawned, wrapping his arms around richie's neck.

they stared at the prominent letters that were carved into the fence forever, or until at least it was burnt down or something. maybe it would be gone in another 25 or so years. they smiled to themselves, deciding not to think of it.

"hey, i love you, eddie." richie blurted out.

"...i love you too, richie." he declared, pressing his lips to the boy's cheek. they stayed sat down on the side of the bridge for around ten minutes, eddie's arms wrapped around richie, breathing slow but hearts racing.

after a while, richie stirred.

"come on, baby boy, back to mine?"

"mmhm." eddie hummed in agreement, smiling at the pet name.

so then they got up and walked back to richie's home in silence, hand in hand, each other's initials carved into their hearts as well as the fence.