Summer camp - Reddie

Part three

A/N time skip it is now nighttime. Also I'm adding a new character I'll be dropping some hints let's see if you can guess.
"Hey, Richie?" I whisper. "You still awake, Rich?"
I wait a few minutes, about to give up, when he says "yeah, Eds. What's wrong?"
I sigh and sit up.

"I can't sleep. I had a nightmare."
"Come here," He says.
What did he just say?
"Well? Come on,"

I hop out of my bed and hesitantly make my way towards Richie's.
"Yeah?" I say when I'm standing in front of him.

"You can't sleep, come here," He says, spreading his arms as if offering a hug. I gulp and slowly sit down next to him, then lay down on my side, back to him, and try to stay far enough away that we're not touching because I don't want to cross any boundaries.

But then I feel Richie's long, warm arms wrap around my waist and pull me closer to him so that we're spooning.
If somebody were to walk in on this right now, they would think strange things.
I feel his warm breath on my neck and I shudder. "So, What was the nightmare?" He asks.

I hesitate.
"We were back in the woods, and there were red balloons everywhere, and then there was this... leper thingy. and you were gone, but then I wasn't in the woods anymore. I was at home, and the leper was gone. Instead IT was my mom. And she hit me, and then I woke up."
I whisper.
"Wait, does your mom actually hit you?!" Richie whisper shouts. I don't respond.
"Eddie?!"

I look up at him guiltily, and his eyes widen. "Eddie, answer me!"
I nod hesitantly, and he pulls me in for a big hug. "Why?" He asks. "Why would she hit you? And why don't you get help?" I shake my head and turn onto my other side so that I'm facing Richie. I bury my face into the crook of his neck, and for the first time since the 'gazebos' incident, I cry. I cry, Richie's shoulder muffling my sobs, and Richie hugs me and whispers things like. "It's okay, Eddie." And "shhh, it's fine."

Richie and I literally just met today, how did we get here? I fall asleep to the sound of my own crying, and for some reason, ITs comforting.

No POV
The taller boy gazed down at the smaller one, and once he was sure that Eddie was asleep, he pressed his lips to the soft hair that rested gently there.

* * *

"Eddie! Eddie, wake up!" Richie whisper shouts. I open my eyes to find that I'm wrapped up in Richie's arms, and IT's daytime now. I meet Richie's dark chocolate eyes, and he carefully gets up from his spot on the bed. "Breakfast is in the main lodge at 8:00pm. IT's 7:30, we gotta get ready." He says, not breaking eye contact.

lI have to take a shower," I say. He nods, and I get up and grab my outfit for today and a towel. For my outfit, a pale yellow tee shirt and my red gym shorts.

I step out of the shower and and dry off with a towel, starting with my hair. As I go to get dressed, I realize I forgot underwear and my only options are to embarrass myself in front of Richie, or not wear underwear. I go with the first one, wrapping a towel around my hips so that my chest is showing, but at least I'm not completely naked. I rush out quickly, hoping Richie doesn't notice.
He notices.

"Eddie?" He asks. I turn toward him. "I, uh... forgot something." I say quickly and grab my underwear, pretending that I can't feel his eyes on my bare chest. I hurry back to the bathroom and get dressed in there, and then we have to leave or we'll miss breakfast.

Richie and I walk to the breakfast lodge hand in hand, because when we left our cabin, there was another red balloon tied to a branch nearby. So, without thinking, I grabbed his hand. He didn't object.
We sat at the table where my friends, along with a few people I don't know, are sitting, and I introduce Richie to Beverly, Ben, Stan, Mike, and Bill. The others, I have no idea who they are and I decide I'll ask.

A girl with light blond hair in a pink dress tells us her name is Elle, and another girl with red hair says her name is max. They're Beverly's cabin mates from Hawkins, Indiana. I have a feeling we're going to be a close group this summer.

****

After breakfast, Richie and I decide to go swimming over at the cliff thing we found while we were exploring. Richie and I were betting who could jump the farthest.

We get to the ledge and I look over it to see the water below. When I turn around, Richie is already undressed to his underwear, and I try my hardest not to stare as I undress too. Then we're both standing on the ledge and looking over. "You ready?" He asks. "I don't wanna jump alone, Richie," I say. "So we'll jump together," He says and grabs my hand. "On the count of three."
"One, two, three!" We shout in unison as we leap off the edge of the cliff.
We splash around and laugh together for a while, having a great time just being together.

That's when I feel something in the water grab my foot and pull. I let out a scream that is soon muffled by water as whatever IT is drags me deeper into the water. I flail my arms, splashing and trying to get back to where there is oxygen. I can feel Richie's arms around me, trying to pull me up, and IT finally lets go, but not before squeezing its claws into my ankle. I scream in pain and Richie swims me to shore.

****

"Eddie!" Richie repeats hysterically.
"What happened?"
I sit up and look over Richie's shoulder at the blood trail on the sand from my ankle. A tall figure rises from the water, and I scream "ITs coming, richie!" He turns and see the clown holding a bundle of red balloons and screams, picking me up and carrying me because I can't walk. He grabs our clothes quickly and runs with me hyperventilating in his arms.
We make it back to our cabin and Richie slams the door and locks it, then sets me down on my bed. He runs to the bathroom and grabs my first aid kit that I packed, and brings it out. He has my blood all over his bare chest from carrying me, and he grabs a roll of gauze and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. "What the fuck was that?!" He yells as he dumps peroxide all over my ankle.

I throw my head back, flinching at the sting from the peroxide.

"my... inhaler, rich," a wheeze.

he gasps. "shit, i forgot our clothes."

i point at my bedside table and he frantically digs through the drawer to find my extra, then hands it to me.

He starts wrapping gauze tightly around my ankle.
When he's done, he grabs a towel and wets it in the sink, then comes back and attempts to wipe the blood off both of us.
When Richie and I are both dressed, he sits down beside me and asks "what do we do now?"
"I guess I'm getting piggyback rides for the rest of summer,"
I sigh.
"Wanna go get lunch?"

Richie gives me a piggyback ride to the food hall, and when we sit down, Beverly shoots me a questioning when she sees our intertwined fingers.
What are we? I don't even know. Maybe I'll ask.

Time skip
To after dinner.

"Wanna play game?" Elle asks as everyone from our table at breakfast this morning gathers around our own small campfire that we made far away from the rest of the camp.
"Spin the bottle!" Bev chimes.
We all nod in unison, and Richie leaves to find a bottle to play with.
When he returns with an empty glass coke bottle and sets it in the middle, Elle says that she's going first. She spins the bottle, and it lands on Beverly. She blushes, but turns toward Beverly and plants a gentle kiss on her lips. "This game is a mess when you play it with this many boys," Bev exclaims, but nobody listens. "Beverly next." Someone says. Bev spins the. Bottle, and it lands on bill. She kisses bill, and then it's his turn. The bottle lands on stan.
Both boys turn bright red, but they kiss. And after the kiss, they can't stop smiling. I raise my eyebrows a bill and he flips me off, still smiling.
Stan passed after that, saying he was gonna go back to his cabin. Bill followed his cabin mate and then it was Richie, me Mike, Ben, and the girls.
Richie went next. Guess who it landed on?
it landed on me. I don't know what to feel, honestly. we're already sitting next to each other, and we lean in at the same time, awkwardly bumping noses. It starts of as just a peck, like everyone else's. Then it was more. It lasted for 13 seconds, I counted, and when we pulled away, the audience cheered. But this wasn't an act. It was real. It felt real.

Did you guess the character? Comment and vote!