real; reddie

o n e

"so, rules."

eddie is pacing around their shared room, his boyfriend watching his movements.

"rules," richie repeats hesitantly. his hair is held back with a headband and his glasses are perched on his nose. he'd become a little more comfortable wearing them in the recent few months. "what kind of rules?"

"i don't know," eddie pauses, chewing on his lips. "like, no being coupley in public?"

"yeah," the taller boy agrees, though unhappy, and stands from his spot on the bed. "rule one; no kissing or holding hands in public. we don't want anyone to catch on."

"rule two," the smaller boy tugs the sleeves of his sweater over his hands. "if anyone asks, we broke up. if we say it was pretend the whole time, all of our friends would start to get suspicious and wonder about everything."

"and there's no way we can go about this with them knowing?"

"not really," eddie sighs. "i love them, but you know as well as i do that they can't keep secrets for the life of them."

richie raises his eyebrows. "fair. third rule; no telling anyone that we're pretending, then."

eddie's lips quirk up. "obviously."

"obviously," richie imitates, his voice going a higher pitch.

"shut up."

"shut up!"

before eddie can say anything else, richie pulls him in for a soft kiss, hand holding his face, shutting him up just as easily as ever. "next rule."

"rule four is that we probably shouldn't be seen together around my mom."

"then we shouldn't be seen together around my boss, either," richie scratches the back of his head. "so that's rule five."

eddie tugs on his hair a bit, a nervous tick that he'd picked up, and he proceeds to pace around the room once again. "rule six, we're still together- so, um, it's not an excuse to go and date or sleep with other people.."

"well, obviously," richie shakes his head, a gentle smile pulling on his lips. "were you really worried about that?"

"well, um," eddie shrugs sheepishly. "a little, i guess. i didn't want it to be like... i don't know."

"baby," richie's voice is soft. "you know i only have eyes for you. this deal won't change anything. it's just temporary, to keep us in the most ideal position for right now. but it's me and you, you know, for the long run."

eddie can't help the smile on his lips. "i love you."

"then let's make that our seventh rule."

"what?"

"don't fall out of love with me," richie says, and it's lighthearted but eddie can still sense a little bit of nervousness in his tone.

"goddammit, that was my plan all along," eddie mumbles under his breathe, earning a laugh from the boy opposite him.

richie crosses the room and wraps his arms around eddie from behind, pressing a light kiss to his shoulder. "i'm a bit offended."

"you know i'm kidding," eddie hums, turning to give him another kiss. his lips linger and his eyes stay closed for an extra moment. "i'm not going anywhere. it won't be that easy to get rid of me."

rich grins. "thank god."

"so," eddie murmurs after a few moments. "we have a deal?"

"deal."

-
eeek hi babies!

thank you so much for the flood of support you've been giving me in the week since i published the first chapter of this book. the love is completely unreal.

i love + appreciate you all so much.

thank you for all you guys do