Hold Me (Reddie)

Bicycle Rides

"Hey Eddie!" Richie was calling from outside the door. "Hurry up, man! We want to get out before it's too dark!"

Eddie grabbed his aspirator off the kitchen counter, stuffing it into his fanny pack with ease. He then opened his pill box and found his vitamins. Vitamin A, Vitamin D, and iron. He quickly swallowed them. He didn't want to be late. It was the first day of February vacation for crying out loud, and they were going to Stan's house for a sleepover. Eddie was thirteen, but he had never had a sleepover before. His mom had told him to call if anything happened, and she'd come pick him up. I don't want you getting hurt with those troublemaking friends of yours. And remember to wear the leather gloves. It's winter, you don't want to get sick. Eddie put on his big winter jacket and stepped outside, looking at his friend Richie's watch-less wrist. Bill was also in the driveway, mounted on Silver, shivering in the cold. "H-hurry up, Eddie."

Eddie got on his bike and the three of them took off, bolted like lightning, feeling like gods zipping across street corners. It was around four in the afternoon, and soon it would be dark. Eddie couldn't help but get excited. He was going to his first sleepover. "So what time are we actually going to sleep? My mom wants me to go to bed before midnight."

Richie sort of just laughed as they turned onto Stan's street. "Well then you can tell her you did." The boy's dismounted and parked their bikes, and walked up to the front door of Stan's house. Bill rang the doorbell.

"Open up, Sta-Stanley," he called. A few seconds later, the door opened.

"Hi guys," Stan greeted them. He was shivering from the draft coming in the door. Eddie needed to get inside, too. He didn't want to stay out too long. He didn't want to get sick. They all went inside, which made Eddie feel a lot better. He sat on Stan's couch, playing with his fingers as Richie started talking.

"Tonight's going to be killer. I have a backpack full of Twinkies and Funions, and I brought a full size coca-cola just for Eds." Richie was smiling like a dork, revealing his new braces he got right after Christmastime. Most people looked ridiculous with metal mouths, but Eddie didn't think Richie looked dumb at all. If anything he looked more mature.

"Uh, I don't think my mom would want me to have cola. The caffeine is bad for cardio muscles," Eddie explained.

"Since when do I care what your mom wants?" Richie laughed.

"Yeah, he's right. She's n-not here," Bill agreed. "You can do whatever you want. Stan's the oldest here so he's the ah-ah-adult."

"Damn right," Stan burst out laughing.

"Are your parents seriously not home? You told me they'd be home! My mom would never be okay with this, if something happens, and, and there's no adults around, what the shit? I thought they'd be home!" Eddie never would have come if he knew there wouldn't be parents there. Eddie dear, it's not safe if there aren't adults near. You know that. His mother would have a heart attack. And she would find out. She almost always does.

"Calm down, Eds," Richie said, opening his backpack. He threw a Coca Cola bottle at Eddie and smiled. "Lying was the only way we'd get you here. And we wanted you here, you're a great person to be around."

"I gotta go home, it's not-"

"It's s-safe, Eddie, drink the Coke and stop worrying about your m-mom." Bill had a point. Eddie was constantly worried about what his mother would think about his decisions. He would never circle an answer on a test without wondering which one his mother would want him to circle. Eddie popped the cap off the Coke and began guzzling it down. He felt the carbonation travel down his throat and instinctively reached for his aspirator, but then told himself he didn't need it. He was okay.

"That's it," Stan laughed. "Haven't you ever had Coke before?"

"No," Richie answered before Eddie even could. "He was never allowed to. We went to a carnival with Bill's family three or four years ago. I wanted to get Coke but he wasn't allowed so I didn't." Eddie remembered that day. He remembered going on the Twister once and throwing up for the rest of the day. He remembered playing stupid games with Richie and Bill. And though he didn't want to, he remembered buying three year old Georgie Denbrough a cotton candy. It was the biggest smile Eddie had ever seen.

"Has he ever had pizza, or is that new to him too?" Stan joked. "I have one cooking in the oven right now."

————

Eddie couldn't help but stare at Richie as they ate the pizza. He had always admired the boy, his thin black curls, his chocolate brown eyes through the large spectacles he always wore. And even his wrist that hadn't bared a watch since what happened in the summer. It wasn't often though that Eddie stared like this though. It was like he was a teenage girl staring at Michael Jackson, the way Eddie did it. Complete and utter admiration. The thing was, he didn't realize he was doing it until everyone noticed he was.

"Quit it, Eds," Richie whined, taking another whole bite out of a pizza. "Did that Coke fuck up your mind somehow? Hello, Earth to Eddie?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm sorry...I'm sorry, I guess I just zoned out." Eddie was completely embarrassed. He was probably blushing. He felt awful about it. It was awkward. Richie must've thought he was crazy.

"Zoned out right in his eyes more like it," Stan giggled.

"Give Eh-Eh-Eh-Eddie a break," Bill stuttered. Immediately after he shook his head. He had been getting better. He hadn't stuttered like that since before Halloween. Eddie felt better though, it somehow turned the attention off of him.

"You okay Bill?" Richie asked.

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I da-da-don't mean to, you know, it was an accident. Teachers think I d-do it on puh-puh-puh...shit!" Bill thumbed his head against the table dramatically. "I think I know why it's huh-huh-happening. I got a ca-ca-call today."

"Wow, a phone call. How intense!" Richie laughed. Bill shot him a glare.

"M-Mom called me do-do-downstairs, told me it was for me. It wa-wa-wa-was Bev." As soon as he said those words the entire room got quiet. Bev hadn't called at all since moving to Portland. Not even Bill. And Bill didn't try to hide it how they had kissed just before she left. All the losers knew about the kiss. Even Ben, who drifted away from everyone and eventually moved to New Hampshire. Eddie missed him, building the dam and chocolate milk stains and fighting something together. Eddie was almost glad he didn't remember what It was. He would've forgotten the clown's face, if it wasn't for the detailed drawing Bill had done. Bill was into that kind of stuff now, horror. He even wrote about it for some damn reason.

"What'd she say?" Eddie asked when no one else did. Now he noticed Richie staring at him. For some reason he didn't mind.

"She said she was coming to De-Derry for Feh-Feh-Feh-Feh-February Break," Bill explained. "I'm nervous, that's why it's getting worse. It was worse when..." he didn't finish the sentence because they knew what he was talking about. After Georgie, his stutter has gotten so much worse then before. Then it got better after the summer. And now it was bad again. Then again, it wasn't as bad as it had been once, but it was worse than the days before.

"Damn."

"I know," Bill replied.

"Yeah."

"If you want some condoms, Bill, I have a bunch in my room."

"Because you've never used them, Richie?"

"Shut the fuck up," Richie yelled at Stan. "At least I'm not the only one here who hasn't had my first kiss!" All heads turned towards Eddie, who was sitting there uncomfortably.

"Eddie's never kissed?" Stan somehow marveled.

"Calm down, Stan, he's probably just nervous to get cooties," Richie laughed. Yeah, Eddie had never kissed. That kind of thing never had occurred to him with any of the schoolgirls. Patty Lang, Janice Thompson, Sue...they were all nothing. Eddie had only ever even dreamed about kissing one person, a person he liked more than anyone or anything. Someone who made him feel like maybe he wasn't even a loser at all. That annoying and awkward Richie Tozier staring right back at him from across the table.