reddie oneshots

scared

"how about... hellraiser?" richie asked, picking one small package up from the pile currently lying on his bedroom floor.

"uh, no." eddie tightened his lips, looking up at richie. the two boys were sat facing each other, trying to pick a movie to watch. eddie was staying the night, but this was beginning to become a regular occurrence. the older boy didn't mind, he liked it. but if we're being honest here, he more than liked it. he loved spending nights with his friend. (what he did mind was calling him his friend. he just wanted something more, even if the idea scared him.)

"really? you've said no to the shining, the exorcist, the evil dead and now hellraiser?" richie moaned, throwing himself backwards onto the carpet.

"i'm sorry," eddie sighed, twiddling his thumbs together. "mommy usually doesn't let me watch horror films. she says they're too dangerous."

richie burst out laughing. "man, are you serious right now?" he grinned, sitting back up. "ooh, mommy wants me to be a safe little boy and won't let me have any fun!" he whined in a high pitched voice, attempting to imitate his friend in the worst way possible.

"that's so not funny."

"is too!"

"okay, whatever. what about..." eddie paused for a moment. "this one!"

"an american werewolf in london?" richie furrowed his brow at the tape that was being held up. "no thank you!"

"oh, is richie the scaredy cat now?" he smirked, reaching a hand over to him. "is richie scared of the big bad werewolf?" he placed the tips of his fingers on the other boy's chest, imagining they were the huge claws of a monster.

"get off!" richie smirked before he grabbed eddie's arm and softly pulled him over to where he sat, causing them to end up in a heap on the floor, with eddie looming over richie, holding himself up with his hands either side of richie's face. they decided to stay like that for a while, richie's hands hovering over eddie's hips from below, unsure if he should actually hold onto him.

the boy on top stared down at richie. he thought he was beautiful. he got lost in his dark brown eyes and blanked out for a few moments, completely forgetting the situation he was in and missing whatever was just told to him.

"eddie?" richie said, grabbing his hips to try to get his attention.

"what?" he asked, jumping slightly at the contact.

"i, um, i..." the two boys were staring at each other in the eyes now. richie forgot what he was about to say and licked his lips nervously. "i said you... you look nice today."

"oh?" eddie's eyes widened at the compliment and he felt a blush rising at his cheeks. "thanks, so do you." the two boys smiled at each other and stayed like that for a minute in silence, the smaller boy inches above richie, eyes locked together.

"um, anyway," eddie pushed himself off of richie and rolled over to lie next to him on the floor. "whatcha gonna watch?"

"what am i gonna watch?" he smirked. "just admit it, you're scared."

"fine! i'm scared." he sighed. "really though, just pick something before i get bored and go home."

silence. eddie closed his eyes and sighed, then felt richie get up next to him. shuffling. footsteps. the sound of something falling, followed by a wave of cussing. he smiled to himself. richie was an idiot, but he loved it.

"poltergeist?"

"don't even bother asking me." he said, opening his eyes and getting up, following the other boy down the stairs to finally watch a movie after spending almost an hour fucking around instead of choosing what to watch.

richie did the duty of inserting the tape into the television and turning off all the lights. of course he turned off the lights. he then sat down next to eddie and slung his arm around his neck, pulling him closer and minimising the amount of space between them. the movie began to play and richie felt the boy he was next to tense up a bit.

"don't worry, eds." he said. "just let me know if you're scared and i'll turn it off."

"don't call me that." he whined, leaning back slightly.

"you know you love it." richie said, pouting and leaning towards his friend's face, an action to which he laughed at, reached his hand out and pushed him away. "eds." he added silently.

as the movie progressed, richie was hooked. he was in love with the camera shots and the storyline so far, but the further in they got, the more he felt eddie grow tense. he thought nothing of it until he felt a kind of shaking on his arm. he finally broke his eyes away from the television screen and looked aside to meet eddie's eyes, glazed with fear. his lip was trembling. "i really don't like this." was all he had to say.

"eds? are you okay, baby?" fuck. he didn't mean for that to slip out, but that wasn't important at that moment. he took his arm from around his neck and turned to face him, cupping his face.

"richie, i- it's so-" his eyes began to water and his brain was growing fuzzy. "i'm scared!" he whimpered, placing his own shaking hands on top of the other boy's.

"i knew you would be, but this much?" his eyes were wide with regret and his mouth hung open slightly. "if you're gonna get this scared then why do you watch this shit with me?" he frowned, rubbing his thumb over his cheek and trying to drown out the sounds of the movie behind him.

"i just- i just wanna make you happy." he closed his eyes and swallowed roughly. "i don't want you to think i'm a pussy, richie." his voice was barely audible at this point, he just hung his head in shame.

richie was taken aback. he didn't know what to do or say. eddie would much rather put himself in an area far outside of his comfort zone rather than disappoint him. he lifted hands from his fallen face and tucked a finger under his chin.

"hey. hey. it's alright. you could never make me disappointed, you know?"  he smiled and eddie returned the gesture. he was still shaking.

"i'm sorry. i need to calm down." he paused for a moment, breathing heavily before a sudden realisation hit him. "w-wait, shit, i forgot to bring my inhaler!" he threw his head back in anger before resting it in his hands. "i'm having an asthma attack now, what the hell, oh my god i ruined this i'm so sorry!" richie started to panic. he didn't want anything bad to happen to his friend, but he had no clue what to do.

there was that word again. friend.

"uh, eds, put your head up." he said in a stern voice, grabbing his forearms. he slowly did so, a few tears running down his soft cheeks, wheezing a little bit. the television was still playing in the background, but in that moment they didn't seem to notice the static because richie did something he thought he never would.

he wrapped his arms around his friend's neck, leant in, closed his eyes and kissed him.

eddie was taken aback. he was confused. shocked. it felt scary. but it also felt safe. for something so wrong, it felt perfectly right. richie pulled back a bit, but only a small amount. just enough to make sure their noses were touching.

"listen. and listen good. you're not gonna be scared when you're with me, okay?" he wiped a few tears from his friend's eyes.

friend.

"okay." eddie breathed out. "o-okay." they sat like that, richie's arms wrapped around eddie's neck, noses touching, until he had stopped shaking. he didn't dare say anything, but richie's touch was enough to calm him down. they were silent.

"um, do friends kiss?" richie blurted out.

"no. but boyfriends do." eddie said, licking his bottom lip.

"oh. okay." he returned. then pushed up his glasses. they had slipped down his nose a bit from being pressed against eddie. then, "can i kiss you again? if, you know, it makes you feel better, of course. not, like-"

"yeah. you don't have to ask." eddie tapped his fingers along richie's shoulders. "it's okay. you don't have to be scared."