𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐎𝐌

↱ 𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖘𝖎𝖝𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓; 𝕯𝖚𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖓-𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖘

Following Mike's sleepover, all six boys had begun to hang out together at school more, sharing a lunch table with Stan and Bill whenever there was space.

Richie whistled happily as he returned from the boys' washroom just outside the cafeteria to meet his friends for lunch. It was pizza day, Richie's favourite day.

Walking into the cafeteria, Richie was greeted with a scene different to the one he had in his head. Instead of rectangles of soft, slightly freezer-burnt pizza there were hushed whispers and familiar cries of terror.

"Spaghetti?" Richie whispered, eyes landing on a crying Eddie. "Hey, what happened?!" Richie shouted across the cafeteria, running towards the table of his friends who were all trying to hush Eddie as their classmates watched on in silence.

"Richie," Mike sighed with relief when he heard his brother's voice.

"We were just joking around," Dustin explained, eyes wide as he turned to Richie. "Then he started freaking out."

Richie's eyebrows scrunched in confusion, knowing there had to be more to the story.

"Stan?" Richie called over his shoulder as he moved towards Eddie, who was clawing at his skin and shrinking away from a worried looking Mike and Will, looking for further details.

"Dustin," Stan hissed, shooting a glare at the other boy. "Told Eddie he licked his pizza when he went to grab milk."

"Fuck, Dustin," Richie swore, shaking his head at the other boy before straddling the bench next to Eddie. "Hey, Spaghetti," he cooed, reaching out for Eddie's knee.

The boy pitched backwards violently, eyes wild as they scanned the room to find who had touched him.

"It's just me," Richie hummed, reaching out again and smiling softly when Eddie continued to cry but didn't pull away from Richie's grip. "C'mere, bud," Richie murmured, pulling Eddie closer to him by his knee.

"Rich, he, he, he," Eddie coughed and gasped, scratching at his neck and stomach as if he could tear the supposedly contaminated food from his body as his words tumbled out of his mouth in a panic.

"Hey, hey, calm down," Richie told him, grabbing Eddie's wrists to stop his clawing at his neck. "I know. You're okay though."

"But-"

"You're okay," Richie repeated, placing Eddie's still twitching hands in his lap before taking his cheeks in each of his hands. "Look at me," Richie instructed the still crying and hyperventilating boy. "You're okay, he was just joking. It's not true."

"But-"

"Shh," Richie hushed him, wrapping his arms around Eddie's shoulders and pulling the still hiccupping boy to his chest. "You're okay. It's not true."

"I thought it was," Eddie cried into Richie's neck, knees knocking against Richie's due to their awkward angle. "I, I thought-"

"Hey, shh," Richie interrupted, rubbing a hand up and down Eddie's back. "I know, I know. It's not true, though. It's not. You're okay. You're safe, I've got you. You're safe."

"'M safe?" Eddie whimpered, skin still crawling at the thought of Dustin's germs wriggling along his pizza as it travelled down his esophagus and into his stomach.

"Mhm," Richie confirmed, pulling back to push Eddie's hair out of his face. "No dying of Dustin-itis on my watch," Richie joked, reaching out to wipe at Eddie's slowing tears with a thumb.