Reddie Oneshots

-49- Boy

Richie and Eddie had been dating for a while. They were happy together, and they liked each other a lot. In fact, like was the wrong word. They loved each other. It was a sweet romance hidden in a homophobic town.

When Eddie wore his bandages he felt more himself. Richie had bought them for him when they were sixteen. Richie had paid for his haircut... And Richie supplied Eddie a house to live in.

When his mother had found out that her little daughter Ella wasn't her daughter at all but her son—well, she threatened to kick him out. Eddie didn't back down on his gender, and out he went, leaving all his clothes there as they were girl clothes anyway. He'd used the last five dollars he had in his pocket to buy a pack of boxers at the store, shoving them up the striped shirt he'd been wearing over his jeans. From there, Eddie didn't know where he'd go.

He headed down to the barrens, trying to find comfort there. He was only fifteen, and only just. He didn't have a girlfriend or boyfriend (although he knew he liked the idea of both). He ran to the clubhouse in the barrens, and went inside. He had never noticed before how dank and cold it was, especially in the fall, but he could work and save up for blankets for the winter. He would live in here.

Later that day, as Eddie sat crying, Richie arrived at the clubhouse for a smoke. When he opened the door, he found Eddie huddled in the corner, only a sweater even though it was October and it was Maine.

"Jesus, Ella! Are you okay?" He descended into the clubhouse and took off his jacket. Eddie took it gratefully, putting it on as quickly as possible. Here's where the fun would start.

"I-I'm not Ella," he sobbed, cringing at the ugly way the name felt on his lips.

"What? The who the fuck are you?" Richie joked.

"Richie, I'm sorry," he sobbed. Richie softened completely, crawling over to hug the girl he had a crush on.

"Don't worry, I can't possibly be mad at you," Richie assured him. Eddie knew it was because Richie had no idea what was coming, but he answered anyways.

"Richie, I'm transgender," he whispered. Richie leaned back against the wall of the clubhouse, removing his hands from Eddie, who was sniffling as tears kept falling down his face. Richie stayed completely quiet for a while. He was thinking. Finally, Eddie couldn't take the silence anymore. He opened his mouth to speak.

"Well what's your name?" Richie interrupted him. Eddie stared.

"What?" he asked, shocked.

"What's your name? I need to know your name if we're friends, right?" he continued. Eddie's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. Damn, Richie was impressive.

"I-I, uh..." He hadn't really decided on one. "I don't know."

Richie tapped his lip. "Well, I was just reading a comic, and the dude had a kid named Edward. What about Eddie?" He suggested. Eddie's eyes lit up.

"Yes! I like that," he grinned.

"Y'know, you look like one," Richie replied, and Eddie nearly sobbed in happiness. "I might call you Ella every now and then, but I swear on my fucking life, Eddie, I'm not doing it on purpose." Eddie sobbed again, and Richie crawled back over to pull him into his lap. He let Eddie cry into his shirt, and stroked his long hair softly.

"Hey, so, what were you doing in the clubhouse?" he murmured. Eddie's breath caught.

"M-mommy kicked me out," he replied, voice cracking in the middle of the first word.

"What? Are you serious?" Richie tilted Eddie's face up to look him in the eye. He was serious.

"Alright, that's it. You're coming to my house."

"What? What, no I can't!" Eddie got up with Richie, following him out the door of the clubhouse.

"Why not?" He turned to Eddie.

"Well... What would your parents say?" he asked, and Richie's response was a shrug.

"They probably won't notice, they're always working. Plus we have a guest room and I have a double bed, just in case." He continued walking, and Eddie finally accepted it. A few days in, Richie's parents noticed. Richie told them the story privately, threatening to run away and never contact them again if they weren't accepting of Eddie. He assured them, he could and absolutely would do it.

His parents let Eddie stay.

They prepared the guest bedroom with the queen sized bed for Eddie, and helped him buy clothes. He and his mother had little money in the first place, and both Richie's parents were, like, dentists or something. He was comfortable. But Richie had decided it wasn't enough. He used his own money, the money he had worked for, to get Eddie a haircut. And bandages. And two pairs of tight sports bras that helped him compress his chest.

In the winter, Richie found out he was also bisexual. He didn't tell his parents, only Eddie. In the spring, they started dating. Richie's parents didn't even notice. Later in the spring, they kissed. They both turned sixteen that year.

"Eddie, so you know how, uh..." Richie was going to have trouble asking this.

"Hmm?" Eddie looked up from his comic.

"So, well, you know how sixteen is the legal age of consent?" he asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" Eddie replied, turning back to his comic.

"Well..."

"Richie!" Eddie looked up at him, eyes wide. "Dude!"

"Thought so, I'm sorry," he backtracked immediately. "But we've been dating for almost six months now, it's September."

"But I don't have a dick," Eddie muttered.

"Well, if it's because of me, I don't mind..." Richie hated the way Eddie hated his body. He obviously knew why, but Eddie was so handsome and he didn't fucking know it.

"No, Richie. It's not because of you, it's because of me, because I can't be what I want to be, Richie, I'm not a boy!" he sniffled, using the back of his hand to wipe the tears rolling down his cheeks, and trying to revert his attention to the comic.

"Eddie," Richie said darkly, a very serious tone infiltrating his voice.

"What?" Eddie looked up at him in slight fear, from his tone of voice.

"Come here."

Eddie obliged, getting up off the chair and sitting down on the couch beside his boyfriend.

"Look me in the eye."

Eddie looked him in the eye.

"Now listen to me, very fucking closely."

Eddie nodded.

"Never, ever say to me again that you're not a boy. Do you hear me? You're one of the most fucking handsome boys I've ever met. You're stronger than me, mentally, way stronger, and I can't even begin to imagine how you feel. But either way, never fucking tell me you're not a boy. Who gives a shit what you have in your pants? I sure don't, because it doesn't fucking make you any less of a man. Do you understand me?" He stared at Eddie, tears falling down his cheeks. Eddie opened his mouth, but his voice seemed frozen. He snapped it shut and nodded, beginning to cry. Richie wrapped his arms around him, sniffling and wiping the tears off his face.

Wow, he didn't think he would cry.

"Eddie, me and the rest of the losers... We accept you. We know you're a boy. Y'know, Bowers can fuck off. He doesn't know paper from dog shit, how are we to expect him to know a girl from a boy? You get me?"

Eddie laughed softly.

A long, comfortable silence ensued, before Eddie looked up at Richie and kissed him softly.

"I love you," he mumbled.

"I love you more," Richie replied.

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DISCLAIMER: DONT BIND WITH BANDAGES. DO NOT BIND WITH BANDAGES
I feel like Richie is REALLY out of character in these and I do apologize.
Also, if you haven't read the book, they built a clubhouse thanks to Ben in the barrens. So yeet