Reddie Oneshots

Lay Me Down

|| the one where Richie is moving ||

I made myself cry, but i'm a crybaby anyway. Let me know what you think! I listened to "Lay Me Down" by Sam Smith for inspiration. I suggest if you can listen to music while reading, you do the same with this one. I'll apologize now.

The crisp fall air blew softly against two pairs of pale, tinted red, cheeks. Two young boys, with wide smiles, rode their bikes around their hometown Derry. They had just disbanded from their friend group. Their eyes were a light shade of red as they were just filled with tears.

This was Richie's last night in Derry.

Eddie's eyes gazed over at Richie, who's eyes stared directly ahead. His glasses were slightly crooked which made Eddie smile softly to himself.

"Oh c'mon Ed's. You gotta be strong. Don't cry" Richie had told him moments after breaking the news that he'd be moving out of town.

"Don't cry!? I don't want to be here if I can't be with you!" Eddie had slammed his hands against the other's chest. He didn't know if it was our of anger, heart break, or both. But as soon as his hands came into contact with the other's flat chest, he was pulled into a tight. "I can't do this without you" he cried into Richie's shirt for a solid twenty minutes.

"Hey Richie?" Eddie's voice cracked after the long silence between the two. Richie broke his gaze from the road ahead and looked over at Eddie.

"Yeah?" He asked, his voice so dull that it tore Eddie's heart into two. Eddie slowed to a stop and Richie did the same.

"I know it's getting late. My mom is going to freak out. But-.. Could we just-.. Maybe watch the sunset?" Eddie's voice waved like the ocean as his nervous eyes stared at the other boy. "Please.." Eddie's bottom lip quivered and Richie slowly nodded.

"C'mon" Richie started pedaling again with Eddie to follow. They rode their bikes to the cliff where they had a perfect shot of the sunset. The sun was still fully visible but it was going down and the two rushed off their bikes and walked to the edge of the cliff where they sat together.

They sat in silence as they watched different shades of purple and pink shoot across the sky. The bright orb of light continued to set. With every passing moment, Eddie just wanted to cry. Richie's eyes were too busy on the smaller boy's face. He slowly reached an arm out and wrapped it around the kid then pulled his little frame closer to his own. Eddie looked up into his eyes and a smile easily spread over his cheeks. They slowly let themselves lay back onto the cold ground. Simultaneously, their eyes averted back to the sun.

The sun was now only half visible.

"I wish you weren't leaving" Eddie whispered softly. Even in a whisper, the broken pitch struck Richie's ears harshly.

"Me too, Ed's.. Me too" Richie's voice was oft and soothing as his fingertips drifted up and down Eddie's arm. "I want to stay here.. I want to take care of you"

"Will we ever see each other again?" Eddie's eyes pulled away from the sun to study Richie's face. Richie looked at him too and forced a fake smile.

"You know it" he tried to sound confident. But of course, he failed. Eddie saw right past it.

"Don't lie to me" Eddie's voice cracked harshly and tears stung his eyes once again.

"I'll come back for you, Ed's" he mumbled. And as the sun disappeared from the horizon, Richie pressed his cold lips against Eddie's quivering pair. Eddie returned the kiss as he melted into the boy's embrace. Neither wanted to break away from the kiss. They knew as soon as they did, it would be time to go home.

The kiss lasted as long as they could keep it but the sheer craving of air made them both pull back and gasp for it. Nothing else was said as they got up and returned to their bikes.

Richie rode with Eddie to his home where Eddie dropped his bike and stood with his back to the house and his eyes on Richie. The boy took a deep breath and walked over to the usually loud mouthed kid and planted one last kiss on his lips. The kiss didn't last though as the front door flew open and his mother's voice yelled for her son to get inside.

They parted from the kiss and locked eyes.

"Promise to come back for me" Eddie whispered, his bottom lip quivering again.

"I promise to come back for you, Eds. I love you" before he could think about it, the words were already out. Eddie's heart skipped a beat and his cold body turned warm from head to toe.

"I love you too" with that, Eddie backed up toward the house. Richie gave one last wave before he gave himself a push to start toward home. Eddie didn't go inside until Richie was out of sight. And that was when the boy turned, walked up the front porch steps, and fell to his knees where he finally let himself break.