𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 | ͏reddie

1

Follow me on Insta @/apgrazer haha hope you like this😁

Richie watches his friend struggle to fit his piles of books into his locker, and proceeds to laugh at the curly haired Jew instead of helping. The two are always together in the corridors, usually before meeting with the other four in their familiar group of friends.

"Come on, Staniel! We'll be late!" He announces.

"Stop doing that stupid British accent." Stanley huffs between ramming is books inside the metal locker.

"What? You mean this splendid accent right here?" Richie does it again, even more exaggerated than last time. "Pip pip and talley ho, Bird-man! I do say, we must be off to lesson!" He flings his lanky arm around the slightly shorter boy, who rolls his eyes once again.

"Beep beep, dickhead." He groans at his obnoxious friend. "You do realise that I don't even like you, right?" He scoffs.

"Oh dear Stanley boy, of course!" Richie leans down to Stan's face with a grin. "I'll tell Big Bill what you said about him—"

"I was drunk that night!" Stan gasps in protest, shoving away from him whilst they walk the busy school corridor. "You wouldn't dare." He warns.

"Of course not! I'm only playin', buddy!" The taller finishes the conversation with a sly smile before they enter their joint lesson.

Mathematics.

Richie Tozier isn't the academic type let's say. He hates teachers, teaching, and most importantly being taught. He likes to say it's all—

"Bullshit!" He throws his arms up. "When will I need this in my life?"

"When you sit your exams, Mr Tozier." The teacher, Mrs Durrant of all, warns the teen and attempts to walk away. Yet he doesn't stop there.

"Can I just leave? Come on, lady! Who becomes a teacher for Christ sake?" He chucks his head back in annoyance.

"We'll discuss that after school in another detention, Richard." She says firmly and points to his sheet of algebra. "Now do your work!"

He releases another obnoxious groan and leans back in his chair, swinging aimlessly until his chair hits the desk behind him. Richie takes this as his opportunity to entertain himself and leans his head backwards onto the desk behind him, grinning at the blonde girl in the seat.

"Hey, good lookin'." He winks.

"Are you sure you don't have AIDS yet?" The girl says, genuinely concerned. Richie's eyes widen and he returns his seat to the ground, awkwardly sucking in a breath and attempting the work. How embarrassing.

Once finally over, Richie lugs his bag onto his back, over his band tee, and exits the classroom at a quick pace after being held behind for ten minutes. 'Fucking hate school', is all he thinks. Mainly because he despises the rules, teachers, and the pointless lessons.

He finds himself wondering through the ever so quiet hallway, lockers on each side and doors scattered along the way. He releases a long breath and feels a familiar twinge in his lungs. He needs a cigarette.

However, his thoughts are quickly interrupted when there's a loud slam, and familiar laughs fill the once silent hallway.

"What's that?! Huh? I don't fucking hear anything, how funny is that! Fucking girly boy! Speak, you piece of shit!"

There's another loud slam and Richie finds himself striding towards the commotion without thinking twice. That's when he's met with the sight of Bowers and his gang, relentlessly torturing a small boy who lays on the floor in a ball.

"Hey!" Richie shouts finally. "Leave him alone!"

"Oh fuck off, Tozier." Henry spits, turning to square up to him. "What's it to you?"

"It's fucking sick, that's what." Richie shoves him back. "Now quit it, before you regret it." He lowers his voice dangerously. Bowers glares at him but quickly takes note of Richie's dark eyes and clenched jaw.

"Whatever, Trashmouth." Bowers snarls. "Come on, let's leave this fag with his little princess." He laughs in Richie's face before he and his gang stride out of sight. Richie shakes his head in disgust before turning to the small boy cuddled up to himself on the hard floor. He quickly gets down to his level and starts to comfort him.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asks, helping him to lean against the lockers. "Sorry they're such fucking idiots. I'm Richie by the way." He smiles. Only then does the boy look up at him for the first time, and Richie freezes in awe of the human. Freckles dust across his nose and cheekbones, innocence running through his brown doey eyes, and curls neatly combed on top of his head. From under the look of shock, the rosy hue of flustered cheeks, but the rest of the skin being quite pale, as if the blood had retreated in shock from what just happened. He has a kind of understated beauty; perhaps he was so disarmingly unaware of his prettiness. "W-Wha..." Richie trails off, simply staring at the gorgeous boy who's cheeks are turning more pink by the second. "What's your name?"

The boy stares at Richie's lips, and only then does Richie's eyebrows knit into a small frown. He's not going to kiss me, is he? He waits a few seconds but the kid is still staring at his lips.

He chuckles, "Listen kid, I know I just saved you but it's a bit soon to be fantasising over this beauty—"

Suddenly the smaller boy grabs a loose sheet of paper from the floor beside him, grabbing a pink pen from the top pocket of his polo and scribbling something down. Richie watches the beautiful boy with a frown before the paper is passed to him with shaky hands.

Eddie Kaspbrak.

Richie reads the name and looks back at the boy, as if he's putting two and two together. Eddie, he thinks, how fucking adorable.

"I'm Richie," He says again. The boy shakes his head and points to the paper. "Oh, so I've got to write everything I say? You like to keep note of every conversation you have?" He grins playfully, hoping to earn a smile or chuckle. But instead, the boy stares at his lips again, looking lost, and then points back at the paper. Richie lets it slide and starts to scribble on the paper before passing it back over.

This better, Eds? I'm Richie Tozier, guess you could call me Trashmouth though ;)

Richie watches the boy read the message, and the adorable smile that spreads across his face. Richie feels his heart swell, and a knot in his stomach start to tighten. This boy is so—

"Richie Tozier!" A loud voice calls through the corridor. Richie quickly snaps his head around to the principal and stands up quickly.

"Hey Sir! Nice haircut!"

"Quiet, you." He tuts before pointing at Richie to leave. "I'll sort this one out, get to lesson."

Richie sighs and starts to walk away, before quickly turning back to see the small boy one last time. Knowing how big the school is, he'll never see him again. The single glance back makes his heart do that thing again, and his palms begin to sweat.

With Eddie's picture imprinted into his mind, he leaves for his next lesson contently, and with a small smirk.

Eddie Tozier.

Sounds good.