my boy | reddie

thirteen

when eddie returned to school he was a nervous wreck. his sleep was almost entirely destroyed by the thoughts of richie hating him. would he? eddie didn't know what to think. all he knew was that he'd have stanley to support him if anything went wrong.

eddie didn't see richie until second period so he walked stanley to his first period. "look eddie," stanley started, bill stood very closely behind him. "no matter what happens, we'll be here. and like i said." he looked eddie in his eyes making sure he understood. "richie will come around."

eddie attended his first period, his palms sweatier than usual. eddie was usually okay with doing his schoolwork but today the slipping grip on the pencil aggravated him to the point of giving up. he just couldn't keep richie off his mind.

eddie was so focused on what was going to happen next period that he didn't notice the bell rang until a classmate of his tripped on his desk. "i'm sorry." they said before walking off. eddie watched them walk out of the classroom with the intent of heading to the next. he wished he could share that feeling but eddie feared if he stood up from his seat that his knees would buckle and collapse beneath him. 

unfortunately, eddie couldn't stay seated forever. eventually people would begin flooding into the classroom burying his small frame and the next bell would ring making him late. edward gulped and began walking. what he thought had been three miserable overthought minutes had actually been a little less than one. when he arrived into classroom he immediately averted his eyes from the raven haired freckled boy sitting in the seat next to his assigned. 

eddie couldn't muster the courage to look at him, let alone sit next to him so instead he sat in the front seat and hoped richie wouldn't approach him. have you ever had the feeling where you know where someone is and they knew where you were but neither of you acknowledged or said anything to each other, that paranoid feeling of if you looked at them they knew you were staring or vice versa, or even the simple feeling of eyes burning into your back? you would wiggle and squirm almost unnoticeable. eddie felt all of these at once and he didn't know what to do. he wanted to confront richie, he can't just not speak to him. eddie couldn't avoid this, he just wanted to know what was running on richie's mind. there was the small possibility that their thoughts were running the same marathon, head-on-head, just waiting to see who would reach the finish line first. 

the bell rang ripping eddie from his own conscience. his heart rate increased at the unexpected sound. the teacher enter the classroom and prepared for instruction. "edward kaspbrak?" he called out. 

"y-yes." he replied. 

"i didn't know stutters were contagious." someone muttered. there were a few scattered giggles. the teacher glared at the group of students and it began to quiet down. 

"why are you not sitting in your assigned seat?" he inquired. 

"well you see mr. charles, i am not feeling to well today. my eyesight is off and i feel a bit nauseous so if i need to go to the nurse i have quick access." eddie spoke in a chirppy tone as if his insides hadn't left his body yet. he wasn't sure he even had a heartbeat anymore.

"you can leave now or go to your seat." mr. charles instructed.

"bu-" eddie started.

"okay class!" mr. charles spoke loudly to state the point this was no longer a discussion. 

eddie wasn't one to defy authority and he didn't want to go to the nurse only for his mother to be called and have him sent to the hospital. this left him with only one choice. eddie swallowed his guts and walked with his head down to his assigned seat. he knew seated next to him was his dear friend. he knew with one glance he would fall apart. he knew that if he was going to make it through this class it wasn't going to be alive.

"you're acting as if we hadn't been through hell and back together." when eddie heard those words he felt all of the color leave his face and his brain forget to work the rest of his body.

"w-what?" he flustered.

"jesus kid," richie muttered. "you think i don't know?" he asked.

"well when you're not telling me what you mean it's hard to understand." eddie looked around and lowered his voice to a whisper hoping richie would do the same. he was suddenly aware of everything and with his luck the wrong thing would be said too loud.

"eddie you love me." richie smirked.