{COMPLETED} cherry cola 🍒 reddie

10

eddie had been missing for a month and a half.

richie had been back to school. no one had spoken to him— no one except for the redheaded girl who stopped the fight between richie and henry.

her name was beverly marsh.

she would attempt to cheer him up, telling him that 'they're gonna find eddie soon.'

richie told himself he believed that, but deep down he was beginning to think that eddie would never come back, though, he would never say it. he wanted to believe that he'd see eddie again, but it was seeming more and more impossible each day.

but, still, richie told himself that eddie would come back someday, no matter how big of a lie richie thought these words were.

he still hoped eddie was out there, that he was safe. richie needed to know that his princess, his eds, his eddie spaghetti was safe.

there were rumors that eddie was dead, that the police had stopped looking. richie thought they were just rumors, but a part of him sometimes asked,'are they really just rumors?'

richie hated that part of himself, the part that questioned if eddie was alive or not.

eddie was alive, he knew it. he knew it.

his eddie couldn't be dead.

but he could be—

NO.

no, eddie was still out there. he knew it.

he just had to find him.

since the second semester came, classes changed. richie had third period, fourth period, and lunch with beverly.

in richie's second period, the teacher almost called eddie's name. (the teacher went through a list of names that richie didn't care about hearing. "eddie k- oh.. never mind." she skipped over eddie's name and continued calling roll.) it felt almost as if she were mocking richie, knowing that even the name could break him down and tear his heart to pieces.

richie missed eddie. he missed him a lot, a whole damn lot. it was like every thought in his head didn't belong to him, it belonged to eddie. every thought he had: eddie; everything he talked about: eddie.

eddie was the sun, and richie just happened to be one of the planets that helplessly orbited him.

he wasn't complaining, as the earth never complains about the sun; the earth needs the sun, just as richie needs eddie. if the earth loses the sun's rays, all life on it will die. richie was afraid that had begun to happen.

"hey!"

richie was jolted out of his thoughts

(eddie)
as he felt a hand slap against his back, the red headed girl, beverly, coming up next to him.

"look, rich, i know you're missing him, but how 'bout we try to get your mind off of him for one minute, huh?" she said cheerfully.

"and how do you intend to do that?" richie's voice was quiet and almost monotonous.

beverly dramatically tapped her chin in thought. "hmmm.. we could go back to being kids again! playing teacher or school or whatever; i could take you to the library and read you a story!" she giggled.

richie shrugged softly. "i guess that'd be okay... no gushy romance books..."

they weren't 'gushy romance books' to richie— they were knives, pointing at his heart, threatening to shatter him further, maybe even to a dangerous level, with thoughts of his princess, his eds, his eddie spaghetti—

"well, lets go then!" bev took richie's hand and ran down the sidewalk to the public library.

richie didn't know what time it was, what day it was. if he had to guess, school had ended about 15 minutes ago. maybe shorter, but his perception of time was off since he spent it longing for eddie.

beverly and richie walked into the library, and beverly led richie to an aisle of books, towering nearly twice his own height, he thought. he found it interesting, how tall the shelves of books could be, since he was just over six feet tall—

"kaspbrak's been missing for a month and a half, without a trace. doesn't that seem strange to you?"

"well, yes—"

"what else could it have been, then?"

richie stopped in his tracks. there were two boys, most likely his age, talking about eddie. he found himself walking towards them, hands trembling.

"a-are you talking about eddie?" he asked the two boys, suddenly.

they looked up at him with a puzzled expression.

"uh, yeah.. we're trying to figure out why he went missing and where he could be.."

"ben, shut up," the other one mumbled, gently nudging the other boy's leg with his foot.

"mike, he knows eddie. do you not know who this is?"

"huh?" now it was richie's turn to look confused.

ben, the chubby one, looked up at richie. "you're richard tozier, the last person to talk to eddie kaspbrak."

richie bit his lip and looked nervous. "yeah.. i didn't think i was the last, though.. i thought maybe he saw his mom or something..."

"i'm afraid not.. you're the last one who ever spoke to him. his mother said he didn't come home that night, no one knows where he could've went. there's no tracks or anything."

"how do you know all this..?"

"we didn't know him, but we want to help find him," mike spoke up, suddenly. "we want to help you find him."

richie felt a sudden spark of hope rise in his chest.

maybe these guys could help him. maybe—

"rich, what're you doing?" bev said as she made her way to her curly-headed friend.

ben's chubby cheeks flushed pink as he saw bev, seeming to tense up.

"bev, they're trying to find eddie too.. i want to see what they kn—"

"rich, we came here to get your mind off of eddie, not to think about him even more—"

"we think we might've figured out where he is," ben interrupted. this grabbed both of their attention, making richie's eyes go wide.

"you do!?"

"shh, rich!" beverly shushed.

richie looked at ben desperately. "where!?"

ben looked at mike, who softly nodded.

"it may sound crazy, but we think eddie might be—"