Lover - Reddie

eight

eddie balanced on the curb, his arms out and a smile on his face.

heaven, he felt like he was in heaven.

"hey, girly boy!"

the smile dropped and eddie turned. he lowered his arms and curled them around his waist. his heaven shattered, revealing the hell of his life.

"c'mere, faggot," bowers growled, stomping a fat foot down. eddie flinched and shook his head. "come HERE."

eddie slowly slinked over, dropping his backpack and shrinking down. bowers said nothing, he just gave eddie a rancid grunt and shoved him to the ground.

red pain flowered in eddie's elbow and suddenly the cool air was hot and heavy. he struggled to breath and henry dug his foot into eddie's ribs. "you little faggot! you're worthless! no one loves you!"

"hey!"

eddie gulped at the voice. richie tozier. it somehow tightened the grasp on his lungs.

he watched as richie beat henry up for him and scrambled over, wrapping his arms around richie's middle and kneeling at his side, watching bowers get to his feet and wipe his bloody nose.

"fuck the both of you. a pair of faggot lovers, ain't that right?"

richie tightened his fisted grip in eddie's shirt and snapped, "no way, man. that's nasty and that shit ain't for us."

shit? eddie thought. because he was definitely into that 'shit'. particularly the 'shit' with richi-.

"whatever," henry spit. he dragged his sleeve over his nose again and stormed off. richie, instead of pulling eddie up, kneeled down beside him in the grass and took the boy's face in his hands.

"are you okay?"

eddie sniffed and grew embarrassed. he must look horrible: puffy eyes and running nose.

but he said yes and allowed richie to take him to his home. "why don't you come in, babe. i don't have much, but i'm sure Richard Tozier's got something to fix up Dr. K."

"babe?" eddie repeated, frozen.

"yeah, what's up?"

eddie couldn't tell if richie was kidding, so he shook his head and followed the boy into his house and up to his room.

twenty minutes later and they were sprawled out on richie's bed, arms and feet brushing, heads close. "hey eddie?"

"hm?"

richie rolled his head over and looked at eddie's profile. his eyes ran over the details of his freckles and the blunt nose and godly eyes glistening. "was henry right?"

eddie turned his body and curled it, his nose almost touching richie's. eddie seemed unfazed. "what do you mean?"

propping up on one elbow, richie starting playing with eddie's sleeve. "are you... gay?"

eddie seemed to choke and he sat up right, tearing away from richie's presence, leaving the taller boy cold.

"what the fuck richie?"

richie shot up, leaning over eddie's shoulder and touching his elbow. "sorry."

eddie turned to look at richie, but swallowed his words at their close proximity. richie sucked in a breath and parted his lips slightly, and eddie wanted nothing more in that moment to take advantage of that. but richie... he was homophobic. or at least, he seemed to be. so when richie tilted his face closer and started running his fingers up eddie's arm, the small boy pulled away and leaned over himself.

"i'm not."

"gay?"

eddie nodded.

"too bad."

eddie's breath caught again and he whirled around to face richie. "excuse me?" but that devilish smile was playing on his beautiful lips and eddie recognized the signs of a joke. "awe, jeez rich."

"did i get your hopes up, kiddo?" richie breathed, biting his lip.

was this boy trying to kill him?

"i hate you, richie."

"i love you too."

i write that ^ but "i hate you" and "i love you too" is what i say constantly with my best friend. along with cuddling and fake-dating and calling eachother lesbian lovers. haha...
i have a problem.