Eclipse ✧ Reddie

V. to stop by

stop by - to visit someone for a short time, usually on the way to another place

"Eddie Bear?" Eddie's mother was currently perched at the top of the stairs that lead to Eddie's bedroom, yelling down at him as if he was deaf. At this point if she thought he was, he wouldn't be surprised. 

"What is it, Momma?" Eddie yelled back, but with a much more pleasant tone to his voice. He was in the living room doing a jigsaw puzzle at the table. His white Polaroid camera sat on the other side of him, since he always took pictures of his puzzles when he was done with them. 

"Come up here to get your sunblock please. I would like you to bring in the mail for me." 

He put down the piece that he had been trying to find a place for and went up the steps, grabbing the sunblock from his mother's outstretched hand and taking it into the bathroom. He could hear her return to vacuuming once he closed the door behind him and tried to ignore the occasional, abrupt noise of their Hoover being bumped into the walls. She always cleaned, she never missed a spot. 

He stripped down, observing his lightly tanned skin in the mirror while he put on the lotion the same way his mother used to do for him when he was a child. She had never missed a spot with that either, especially not after he had burned for the first time when he was five. That had "required" an unnerving trip to the hospital that he could still vividly remember if he thought about it long enough. He slipped his t-shirt and shorts back on before looking satisfyingly in the mirror and exiting the blue-walled bathroom to head back downstairs. 

Meanwhile, Richie Tozier was bored as shit and, not to mention, uncomfortably hot. Thanks to his father, the taller boy had been born with dark locks of hair. But upon moving to Derry, this had become more of a curse than a blessing, one that he sure as hell wasn't going to change by putting on a hat. So there he was, riding down the street as if a touch of wind would fix the situation that he had acquired, sweat annoyingly dripping down his forehead, all on behalf of the sun's attraction to his black curls. He really had no idea where he was going, although that for once made sense because he had just moved to the smaller town about a week ago. There wasn't any way around "exploring" a bit if he wanted to become at least mildly acquainted with the place, but he couldn't help but think back to the day before when his "exploration" hadn't exactly ended so well. It had gotten him biking, alone, whilst whistling Row, Row, Row Your Boat haphazardly. 

 Eddie had made it outside to retrieve the mail for his mother, like the good boy he was, when the familiar tune reached his ears and he averted his gaze out towards the street, the sun directly hitting his eyes and causing him to squint. Now, when Richie appeared in his field of vision he wasn't exactly thrilled because, of course, he hated him. Eddie hated Richie so much that he would rather be locked up in his house all day than speak to him. And that says a lot. But Richie did not hate Eddie, and so he found it reasonable to make a stop, maybe ask for a glass of lemonade. He presumed that Eddie would make a mean lemonade. 

"Hello there, good fellow," Richie called out, the wheels of his bike ceasing to turn. 

Eddie closed the door to the mailbox, bills and all now tucked underneath his arm. "Fuck off," he uttered sternly. Let's just say he was already set on turning his back and walking right into his house. 

"Oh, what a nice choice in greeting." Richie smirked. 

"Yeah, well, I'm afraid I have to go. I don't have any sunscreen on, so I should be inside," Eddie lied, figuring this would stand as a swell cover up. 

"Is your mom gonna slather it it on for ya? She did it for me once and it felt goooood." Eddie was now regretting his decision.

"Shut up! You don't even know my mother!"

"That's what you think." Richie's smirk only worsened. 

"You're disgusting." Eddie went inside with the mail, slamming the door behind him, while Richie sat outside perched on his bike, laughing his ass off and forgetting the unbearable feeling of the summer heat for a moment. 

Author's Note:

All I have to say is that this filler chapter was somehow really enjoyable to write, despite the fact that it took me a while. 

-Sophia <3