Hold Me (Reddie)

A New Breed Of Monster

Eddie woke up in the morning sweating, like he had awaken from a rather unsettling dream. But even more horrific than that was the chilling fact that there was no dream. He had forgotten, just for those few moments after he woke up, just what had gone down that day. He could go through that bland Sunday all at once. He kissed Richie, and somehow his mother found out. He shuddered in his bed sheets and looked at the clock. It was six forty-one. It was early, but he knew his mother, and she'd already be up. He didn't know how to face her. But he couldn't let her know that he knew that she knew, could he? Because he wasn't supposed to know! It was Richie, that god awful Tozier who warned him the night prior with two powerful kisses. The phrases we can get through anything and I'll protect you scanned through Eddie's mind. Richie was with him now. Whatever would happen, he'd have Richie on his side. They could get through anything. Eddie would be okay. No matter what. He rolled out of bed, still in the clothes from the day prior, and walked out into the living room where his mom sat.

"I thought you were going to sleep forever," Mama joked. The air was tense and thick in the room, rather uneasy. "Come here, Eddie dear, I think we need to talk."

Eddie stood in the doorway of the room, right next to the television, fiddling with his fingers. "About what?"

"About that friend of yours, Richie. You can't see him anymore. He's not a good influence. This might not come as a shock to you, but he's a queer." Mrs. Kaspbrak didn't even look away from the TV as she spoke. I am, Mama, and I really like him too. There were so many things that Eddie wished he could say, but he just wasn't brave enough. He wished he was braver. Brave like Richie Tozier, maybe.

"What? How do you know?" Eddie asked, even though he already knew that answer.

"I know he kissed you, dear. He wrote that on his note." Mrs. Kaspbrak picked up a paper seemingly out of nowhere and began reading aloud. "I don't know poetry Eds, but I'm sorry. The kiss was unbelievable though, that's for sure. I hope my Eddie Spaghetti can forgive me. Rich." Mama took a very deep inhale. "You won't be seeing that faggot anymore, Eddie. He's perverted and you have got to stay away. What?"

"He's not the perverted one," Eddie said angrily. "I need to make a phone call. You are disgusting, mother." Mrs. Kaspbrak looked hurt, very hurt, but she didn't say anything so Eddie prepared himself to make three separate yet very important phone calls, all detailing the same things. The first was to Mike, the second was to Stan, and the third was to Bill and Bev. The Losers Club would be meeting in the Barrens, for Eddie had another evil to overcome.

————

"Eddie, seriously, what's going on?" Stan asked. Everyone was there. Including Richie, who Eddie didn't even call. He was being shifty and distant, but that was the least of his worries. Eddie was still debating whether or not he could trust his friends. What if they got mad when they found out? Or disgusted? Anything could happen, any awful circumstance that would result in a dead Eddie. We can get through anything.

"We're losers. All of us. In the start that's what brought us together," Eddie started.

"Or the fact that nut job Bowers wanted us all dead," Mike interrupted. "What is this? Did something happen? Are we going to call Ben?" The name Ben saddened Eddie, so he just shrugged it off.

"No, I don't think anything like that happened. I just think that recently I've found myself to be more of a loser than I thought." Richie finally understood, for his eyes lit up like stars and his face got all cold. He started shaking his head, as if to get Eddie to stop, but Eddie knew he couldn't. "It's that letter, I guess. I guess that's where this story starts. The letter that Rich received." Eddie proceeded to tell the losers about what had happened, about the kiss and the letter Richie wrote in response. Most just looked shocked. Beverly was smiling. Bill was frowning. It scared Eddie. When he was done sharing, he stuck the aspirator in his mouth, and tried to calm himself down.

"You're brave for sharing, both of you," Bev said. She was giving Eddie a big smile, which made him feel a lot better. But Bill was still frowning.

"Dang it, n-now I owe your buh-buh-buh-boyfriend f-five bucks," Bill whined.

Richie spoke up before Eddie even could. "We kiss a few times and I'm his boyfriend? Is that how it works now?" Everyone went quiet. No one knew how to follow up a comment like that.

"I'm s-sorry, Ri-Ri-ichie." He seemed embarrassed. And Eddie just didn't know what to say. He wanted Richie to kiss him again. He wanted Richie to figure this all out, all the bullshit with his mother. He needed to find a way out of this situation, but instead he was just focused on Richie. His hair, his eyes, his temples, his nose, his lips, his cheeks, his annoyingly beautiful freckles. His hands and his arms and his legs and every single detail about that boy that made Eddie dizzy just thinking about him. Eddie found comfort in those unnecessary thoughts and such. They calmed him.

"You're mothers a shit and a half," Stan said, standing up from the rock he had been seated on. "I've always hated her. You could never do anything, you were always too worried about what your mom would think. Well guess what? She's worse than we thought! So what if you like kissing this curly haired joker? So what? That's bullshit that you can't hang out with him. Your mother is awful, so awful."

"What are we supposed to do?" Bev questioned. "We can't just change her."

This time Richie was the one who stood up. "But we can at least try."