ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ɪs ʀɪɢʜᴛ

- 5 -

"guys, are you sure about this? i'm not so sure about this."

richie was skeptical, and rightfully so.

if he managed to pull this off, his self esteem would never suffer again.

"just go over and do it already, it's simple. walk over and kiss him, if he kisses back, you know he likes you too. if he doesn't, well...we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

stanley spoke as if the task was as simple as it sounded, staring off into the distance with a look that made richie wonder who he was trying to convince.

"i cant, i can't do it you guys! what if he hates me? what if i kiss him and he-"

he was abruptly cut short, and it took him a good few seconds to realise that bill had slapped him across the face.

he rubbed his sore cheek, and blinked. before him was an apologetic looking bill, red faced and anxious.

"s-sorry, rich. b-but you needed that."

richie sighed, and nodded understandingly.

"yeah, thanks...i guess?"

before he could say anything else, bill's hands were on his shoulders and they were guiding him in eddie's direction.

"y-yep! sure. no p-problem. anytime. n-now, go g-get your eddie."

he was pushed forward, and straight into eddie, who was unloading his books from his locker. eddie was wearing overalls today, and richie didn't think he'd ever seen someone so beautiful.

"oh hey richie, what can i do you for?"

eddie winked, and it sent him crazy.

he spun around on his feet, confused when bill and stanley were nowhere to be seen.

"uh, richie?"

he faced eddie again, who was slightly amused by how flustered richie was. he was frantically shifting his eyes to every corner of the hallway, wondering where the fuck his friends were for the moral support he was entitled to.

"you okay babe?"

richie shook his head quickly, curls bouncing off his cheeks.

"what? yeah! no, i'm fine. yeah."

eddie laughed, shutting his locker door.

"okay then, well i'll see you in english then i guess?"

richie's eyes widened, and he subconsciously grabbed onto eddies arm.

"wait!"

eddie halted, and glanced down at richie's fingers tightly grasping his arm with a raised eyebrow. richie blushed and pulled away,

"sorry, i-"

he began, only to cut himself off. fuck it, he thought.

"actually, no. i'm not sorry. i need to tell you something."

he stated determinedly, causing eddie's eyes to turn wide in surprise. there was a dust of pink on his cheeks, the kind richie would have loved to blow away with the heat of his breath.

richie inhaled deeply through his nostrils,

but then he felt a dreaded tingle behind his eyelids and along the tip of his nose.

he was about to sneeze.

he held his hand up, and the other came to cover his mouth. the build up was torture, and he could tell this was not going to be discreet.

eddie giggled as richie let out a loud achoo! causing a passerby to heckle him with a 'shut the fuck up.' richie sniffled as the feeling passed, laughing to himself.

but then he stopped. he barely even registered the soft 'bless you' that left even softer lips.

because richie couldn't see a fucking thing.

"ed's?"

he blinked rapidly, cursing himself and any existing higher power.

because richie tozier had only just gone and sneezed out his contact lenses.

"richie? are you okay?"

eddie's tone was laced with confusion and concern. but mostly confusion. he stepped closer to richie, who was staring right through him with his gangly arms reached out almost aimlessly. eddie thought he resembled a lost zombie, but he stuffed that idea to the back of his mind, realising that this probably wasn't the best time.

"my lenses, they're gone. fuck, i can't see shit."

richie began to panic, and eddie reacted quickly, stuffing his books back into his locker and running his hand through his chestnut curls. he crouched down and began searching the horrifically unhygienic hallway floor, as richie blindly felt about the area surrounding him.

bill and stanley, who had watched the scene unravel from afar, both shook their heads in unison. bill sighed like a parent who had just about given up, and scribbled something out in his notebook. stanley, who had his head in his hands, glanced over at bill, who had the same exasperated expression on his face. he placed a consoling hand on bill's shoulder.

"well, got a plan c?"

bill grimaced, holding out a hand to stanley in order to silence him.

"shh,"

stanley blinked.

"s-speak not, m-my friend."

he whispered, his eyes narrowing.

"for this i-is god's work, and it will t-take time."

-

i stan mom bill and dad stan