howdy welcome to my first story. this deals with drug use, mentions of blood, needles and lots of angst. I suggest listening to blue bucket of gold by sufjan stevens bc I listened to it on repeat for most of this book, despite having no real correlation to this story at all.
—
richie sat outside the club, head resting on the grimy wall behind him in the alleyway. his hands trembled, aching for more of the stuff they'd given him inside. the stuff eddie would breakdown and cry about if he knew richie was doing. he let his forehead press warmly against his knee, the sweat that had gathered there yet to leave, he let his long fingers press on the cool concrete beneath him. he'd told himself no more that night.
—
richie gripped the sink tightly in his rough hands, the effort of it turning his knuckles a yellowing pale. he coughed harshly again, red staining the shining white of the basin. he looked up to catch his reflection, purple bruising his eyes and cheekbones protruding from behind his thinning skin. he washed his hands and the sink, rubbing his wet fingers over his dry face. he shook his head, sniffling as he left the bathroom to return to his dark room. eddie had asked to come over again today, he knew he couldn't keep putting him off. he wanted to see him, but he didn't want eddie to see him like this. he lay back on his bed, hands pushing through his greasy hair. he turned his head to see remnants of white powder atop his bedside table, next to the needles and a packet of grape gum— eddie's favorite.
—
richie had finally showered today, he needed to see eddie in person. they'd agree to go to the park, but as soon as eddie had arrived richie had pulled him into the forest. claiming he wanted to be alone with him. he had felt too many eyes on him out there, he didn't want people to see him trembling in a thick, navy green
bomber jacket that hung off his dying frame. he didn't want them to see him at all. now they sat against the bases of trees in a clearing, eddie ranting on about his mum when richie had his nosebleed. he covered his nose with his hand as he leaned forward instantly. eddie had been quick to lean forward too, one hand on his shoulder as he tried to get a good look of richies nose with his concerned eyes.
"richie? are you okay?? let me see, richie." he spoke frantically, searching for a tissue in his pockets with his free hand. richies eyes closed, blood dripping from his hand by now. eddie pressed a crumpled tissue against his nostrils, finally catching richies sad eyes. "hey, you're okay." eddie whispered, his voice soothing richie a little bit as blood dried on his lip.
—
richie held eddies sleeping figure close to his chest, though his arms were weak he needed to keep eddie safe. right now however, he needed a line. his fingers had been fiddling for the last fifteen minutes since he'd woken up to the dark. he knew he should've left the little baggy in his pocket at home. when questioned why he wanted to keep his day clothes on for sleep by eddie's light curious tone, followed by the sweetest giggle, he'd just said he was cold and they'd moved on. to be true, richie was cold. freezing even. but the real reason he didn't want eddie to throw his clothes in the wash was because he knew the zip loc bag in his pocket. he sighed, slowly removing himself from eddie to go into his bathroom. the countertop, impeccable as ever, seemed the perfect spot. he locked the door then moved on to getting the powder ready with a smoothie card he'd gotten once when he didn't know how to say no. the deed was quickly done and he returned to the bedroom with a lazy smile on his face. he didn't sleep much that night.
—
eddie knocked on the door of richie's house. he hadn't seen him all week and he was barely online, he knew something was up. richie's seven year old little sister came to the door, of course neither of his parents were home.
"he's sleeping, knock before you go in though or he'll get really mad." the voice of clara spoke softly, stepping out of the way. eddie smiled down at her, walking inside.
he ran his hand through his hair as he made his way up the stairs. he knocked gently, smile coming on his face as he waited for the door to open. except it never did. eddie frowned, deciding he could ignore clara's advice as richies boyfriend.
he slowly opened the door, the room was dark but his eyes quickly found richie laying on his front. his arm had wipe marks of blood, desk with needles and empty zip lock bags. he could see richies milky white skin, destroyed by puncture wounds. eddie felt his heartbreak. he quickly went over to richie, shaking him gently.
richie was fast to wake, but groggy. "eddie..." he whispered, head dropping down on his pillow again as he already seemed to be falling back to sleep. eddie grabbed his phone out— regardless of if this was an overdose or not, richie was in trouble. eddie quickly called for an ambulance, putting his phone down and giving richie a soft kiss on the head before leaving the room to go find his sister.
she sat in the kitchen colouring, eddie came and stood beside her. "hey, clara, your brother is a little sick right now so he needs to go to the doctors, I need you to get your shoes and a jacket then come wait down here, okay?" he explained the best he could in a soft tone. clara looked concerned but nodded, pushing off the chair to run upstairs to her room. eddie was behind her, turning off to richie's room. "hey richie, you awake?" he spoke as he grabbed a sweater out of his closet, moving over to the bed to run his fingers through richies hair. richie mumbled in reply. eddie sighed, hearing the ambulance.
it was all a blur, they took richie quickly into the van, eddie let clara sit on his lap and listen to his music so she wouldn't look too much at richie or hear eddie crying. they waited in the cold room, eddie holding a tissue over clara's small mouth so she didn't breathe in any of the waiting room germs. he called richies parents but their phones were off, same deal when the hospital tried to contact them. then they were told they could see richie, eddie let clara dangle off his hand as the doctor explained what they'd done to richie and that he wouldn't be the most active right now.
they went in, eddies eyes watering at richies pale state on the bed. his eyes were open and he reached for the two with his fingers. eddie sat clara on the chair beside his bed, leaning down to hug him gently. "fuck you richie." he whispered, sniffling. richie sighed, arms wrapping around eddies back weakly.
"i'm sorry." he whispered back.
— —
holy cow so sad
does anyone want a part two coz i could write more
— gia 💞
