Calculator (Reddie)

-6-

It was silent.

Eddie didn't know what to say yet, so he just kicked the rocks on the sidewalk. Finally, he spoke up.

"Sorry for being so angry today. I have no idea why I was like that. I was just in a bad mood I guess." Eddie said, looking down. Richie smiled. He couldn't help it, Eddie was too cute.

Wait a damn minute.

"It's okay, every man has their period once in a while." Richie recovered, before running down the street.

"You fuckhead!" Eddie laughed, calling after Richie, "Wait for me, idiot!" Richie stopped running and turned around to face Eddie. He was probably fifteen metres away, but Eddie could see the giant smile that was stuck on Richie's face. When Eddie had caught up to Richie and they started walking beside each other again, Richie threw his arm around Eddie. Eddie stiffened up, and Richie must have been able to tell.

"Um, is this okay?" Richie asked quietly, colour rising to his cheeks.

"Uh...yeah. It's fine." Eddie answered the taller boy, colour appearing on his own cheeks as well. That was how the two walked for the rest of the walk, until they arrived at Richie's house. Richie removed his arm, and Eddie shivered, as the air around them was cooler than Richie's arm.

"Welcome to my humble abode! We're the only ones home. My brother is at work." Richie said, slipping off his shoes and walking further into the house. Eddie followed his lead.

Richie gave him a quick house tour, and then they went up to Richie's room. His room was exactly how Eddie would imagine it to be.

Band posters on the walls and magazines and clothes that were probably dirty scattered all over the floor. There was a closet on one side of the room, and his bed was made (to Eddie's surprise) opposite of that. Stood against the wall that the door to enter or exit the room was on, was a desk and a chair; a large monitor on the desk. On the last wall was a fairly large window with a window seat. Richie immediately settled himself there.

"Sit anywhere you want! Let's get this show on the road!" Richie said, dropping his schoolbag and leaning back. As he leaned back though, he winced, "Ah, shit. Give me a minute." Richie stood back up and walked over to look in the mirror that was stood next to his closet. He slowly took off his shirt, using only one arm to do so.

Eddie watched on from where he decided to sit, on the office chair at Richie's desk. Richie looked good. He wasn't overly muscly but there was definitely a bit of definition on his abs and biceps. He was also wearing a silver chain around his neck. That was a good look; shirtless, jeans, and a chain necklace. Not that Eddie was watching for fun, he was just curious as to what Richie was doing.

Richie threw the shirt to the side and turned so he could see his left shoulder in the mirror. He was greeted with the sight of many different colours. Giant blotches of purple, black, blue, red, yellow, and green all mixed into a large swelled pallet on Richie's collarbone and shoulder. Richie bared his teeth and sucked in a breath through them as he moved his shoulder to work it through the pain. Eddie gasped, and Richie made eye contact with him in the mirror.

"Oh my god! Was that me? Did I hit you that hard? I didn't mean to, I swear I didn't, you were just pissing me off! I shouldn't have done it at all. Oh my god I'm so sorry!" Eddie rambled, standing up and walking towards Richie. When he reached Richie, he grabbed Richie's good shoulder and spun him around, so Eddie could inspect the bruise himself. Richie stiffened up, not used to having someone this close to him, especially when he was shirtless. It felt like he was holding his breath. Richie took a small step back.

"Uh, I'm gonna go and get some ice for it. You get whatever you wanna go over first ready. I'll be back in a couple of minutes." Richie stumbled out of the room and down to get himself some ice. Eddie got his things together and by the time Richie gets back Eddie is ready to go. Richie pulls up another chair at his desk instead of sitting at the window seat again.

"I really am sorry Richie." Eddie said as Richie put on a shirt and got his work out.

"It's fine Eds, I've been through worse and I fight lots so stuff like this happens all the time. Just not...quite...like this. Let's just forget about it, okay? I do actually wanna pass this class if I'm being forced to have a tutor." Richie smiled softly, and Eddie smiled back.

"Okay, so..."

And the two worked for an hour, and then they heard the door open and close, before footsteps bounded upstairs.

"Hey, Rich, what do you want for supp-oh, uh, hi." Nick stopped his train of thought when he saw that Richie wasn't alone in his room. He looked to Richie's eyes for help.

"Nick, this is my tutor, Eddie. Eddie, this is my older brother, Nick." Richie introduced. The two shook hands and Nick spoke up again.

"Let me know what you want to eat, and if Eddie will be staying or not." And then Nick left the room. The two worked for half an hour more, before deciding they had accomplished enough for the day. Eddie packed his things and led Richie down the stairs.

"How often are we gonna do this?" Eddie asked as he slipped his shoes on.

"Hopefully at least two or three times a week. I'm never busy." Richie answered. 

"Yeah same. We'll plan the next one soon enough. I'll see you tomorrow Richie." Eddie said as he turned to open the door.

"Yeah, I'll see ya!" Richie called as the retreating boy waved to him. Richie closed the door and went to the kitchen. "Eddie's not staying for supper and I don't care what we have." Richie told his brother. Richie grabbed more ice and took off his shirt, wrapping the ice in the shirt and holding it over his bruise. Nick looked up and almost dropped the phone he was holding.

"Oh my god please don't tell me Eddie gave you a hickey."

Richie stared at his brother weirdly.

"Do you mean Eddie Kaspbrak? The Eddie that was just here? Uh, fuck no? I literally started talking to him like two days ago. Also, does this look like a fucking hickey to you? Hickeys are not this big, and do you see the size of this thing? No this is not a hickey. He hit me with a textbook today." Richie explained as Nick started to find what to cook.

"And why did he do that?" Nick interrogated. Richie could swear his brother was like a parent.

"Because I was annoying him, like the annoying little shit I am." Richie smiled, hopping up on the kitchen counter, wincing as he put weight on his injured shoulder.

"Any specific reason you were annoying him?" Nick asked slyly. Richie's eyes widened.

"Oh my god, no. He's just fun to tease." Richie shut his eyes as he realized that that wasn't the best thing to say to his assumptive brother.

"Oh, is he now? Well, I think I'd like you to tell me about him while I cook for you." Nick said, and Richie rolled his eyes.

He could talk about Eddie for hours. And while he wouldn't admit that to anyone, Nick could tell that Richie got just a little brighter when he talked about his tutor.

See you next chapter Snowflakes!!