More Than The Upside Down - An IT (2017) & Stranger Things Crossover

Chains - Part 1

Richie

Once they had arrived at Dustin's basement, once again, and calmed down Bill from his almost near hysteria, a sense of boredom swept through the house. Dustin had explained that he and Mike had to dash off in order to find Lucas but they would be back as soon as they could. Considering what they had been through the past few days, Richie was surprised that he could even feel bored, especially with the roller coaster that they were all on. It had been almost half an hour now and Richie felt the small cuts on his face begin to sting.

He stood up and walked into the bathroom. Fresh blood was oozing from the cuts and Richie splashed water onto them, causing the blood to ease away. This made his cuts sting even more, but he bore through it by biting his lip. He saw Eddie enter from the mirror as his friend stared at him nervously.

"Hey, Richie?" Eddie's voice shook.

Richie turned to his friend, "What's up, Eds?"

He saw Eddie cringe from the sound of his most hated nickname, but he didn't comment on it. Instead, Eddie asked, "How are your cuts?"

"Better," He answered.

Eddie shut the door behind him, which caused Richie's heartbeat to raise suspiciously. He turned to his friend.

"Are you okay, Eds?" Richie frowned with concern.

Eddie took a deep breath, "There-There's just something I've been meaning to tell you because I've known you for years now. But... something's different."

Richie began to grow light headed and nervous, "What are you trying to say, Eddie?"

"What I'm trying to say is this-" Eddie leaned towards Richie. Grabbing his cheeks tenderly with his hands and planting a soft, sweet kiss on his lips. Richie began to feel giddier and giddier by the second as the taste of mint swarmed his senses.

Eddie pulled away, still holding Richie's cheeks with care, "This is how I feel about you."

Richie stood there, wide-eyed and his mouth almost falling onto the floor. Despite how hot his cheeks felt, he could still feel how cool Eddie's fingertips were touching them. A small ache began to boil in his chest but he ignored it, still in shock that his friend could feel the same way.

"Well, say something Trashmouth!" Eddie pleaded desperately.

Richie reached forward and kissed him back, just like he had imagined it to be in his head. Before Eddie could kiss him back though, Richie pulled away and took Eddie's hands in his own, interlacing their fingers like string. Richie looked deep into the smaller boy's eyes, which were beginning to prickle with tears.

"Oh, Richie," Eddie cried quietly, "What are we going to do? Everybody's going to hate us."

Richie pulled Eddie into a hug, cradling his head on his chest and stroking his hair gently, "Fuck everybody."

As Eddie was about to tighten the hug, the small ache in Richie's chest began to bloom and bloom until he had to pull away in pain. The ache spread to his stomach and the rest of his body, turning into a vicious pain. Little did they know, they had just pulled the trigger on a chain of events.