The Phone Calls ☏ || reddie

Calling Mike Wheeler

Wally's Motel, Derry, Maine
Friday, May 10th 1990
2:02 pm

Richie has just arrived back at the hotel from hanging out with his friends at their school. Richie had to tell someone about his feelings towards Eddie, he knew he liked him as more then a friend should. He was okay with that.

He debating on telling Steve, but then decided not to. So instead, he sat on his bed, and dialed the number to his house. Even though he should be in school, Mike wouldn't have been. Every Friday, after lunch, Mike somehow got out of going to school. Their mom doesn't know about it, but the school somehow agrees to that.

"Hello?" Mike asked.

"Hi."

"Richie! Oh, hi! How's Derry? How is everyone?"

"Good, everyone's good here. What about over there?"

"Pretty good as well. What are you calling for?"

"Mike I want to tell you something."

"Okay..."

"Remember that time when you asked if I had a crush?"

"Yeah."

"Well, at the time when I said yes, I was lying, but now I can tell you. Yes, yes I have a crush."

"Who?" Mike asked.

"... Eddie."

"Eddie?"

"Yes."

"Like, Eddie as in your best friend?"

"Yes, Mike."

"Really?"

"Yes, but I... I don't know if he likes me back."

"Does he give any hints to you?"

"Well... Wednesday night he told me he likes boys. And he told me he's never kissed a guy and I said I hadn't either... so... I kissed him."

"Did he push you away?"

"Well, no, because we planned the kiss out."

"Okay."

"And then yesterday morning, after I woke him up and he got dressed, we kissed again."

"Did he kiss first?"

"No, but he didn't push me away. He kissed me back. Then on the way to his school, he had a mental breakdown about him and I not being best friends because he has this weird feeling and I'm confusing him."

"He definitely likes you, Richie."

"How do you know?"

"Well, you kissed twice, and both times he didn't push you out of the way and was saying he didn't want to kiss you. The feeling he was feeling is obviously attraction towards you. And he likes boy, so it's not like he's straight or anything."

"Mike, I really like him." Richie sighed. "And that's stupid, because I know I shouldn't."

"Richie you can't help who you're heart falls for."

"What do I do?"

"Are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know... what do you think?"

"Well, maybe give it a few more days, see if you get anymore signs, and if you're having a good feeling, then go for it!"

-

When Richie went to pick up Eddie, he decided to try and see if maybe he could get more hints. So as the walked down the sidewalk and Eddie told him about something dumb Beverly did in Art class, Richie grabbed Eddie's hand. Eddie took in a deep breath while he was still speaking. His face did become redder, but he didn't stop talking. He held Richie's hand.

"S-she drew our t-teacher as a cow, and she showed it to her."

Richie then intertwined their fingers, locking his in place with Eddie's. Eddie smiled, but kept talking.

Another sign, he isn't letting my hand go.

The two soon reached the motel, hands still in one another's. When entering the place, Drew gave them a weird look, but didn't say anything about it. They did unlatch hands when about to open the door, not wanting Steve to know about anything.

But lucky for them, Steve was gone, the only thing left of his presence was a note on his pillow.

Richie and Eddie,

I ran to the store to buy some chips and popcorn, I thought we could watch a movie later. I won't be gone long, lock the door till I get back. And no funny business.

Steve.

Richie crumpled the note, throwing it in the trash can.

"So what are we gonna do till he gets back?" Eddie asked, fixing his shirt.

Richie shrugged. "I don't know."

"Oh, Richie! I told Bill today."

"About what?" Richie asked, sitting beside him on the bed.

"About how I'm gay." Eddie smiled.

"That's great, Eds." Richie smiled, giving Eddie a hug. "Did he take it good?"

"Yeah."

-

Richie and Eddie sat on their bed, Steve on his. He bought three bags of chips, finding them each their favourite kinds. He as well bought popcorn, and soft drinks. Steve held the remote, flicking through the movie stations to try and find the right movie.

"So, what do ya boys feel like watching?" Steve asked, taking one of his Doritos. "Comedy, horror, adventure?"

"I hate comedy." Eddie mumbled.

"What?!" Richie screamed. "How could you hate comedy?"

"Comedy movies try to hard to make the situation funny that it's terrible."

"What a downer." Steve sighed.

"Agreed, Steven."

"What about... this one?" Steve asked, spotting Child's Play 2. "Nancy and Jonathan went and saw it, apparently it's scary."

"The first one was stupid." Richie mentioned.

"I guess we should watch it, dolls are terrifying." Eddie mumbled, grabbing his unopened bag of Ruffles Cheddar and Sour Cream.

"So, are we watching this then?" Steve asked.

"Sure." The boys said.

The movie wasn't that scary, even Eddie agreed, considering how scared he was of the first one. He jumped at some parts, but he wasn't so scared that he'd be a coward about it.

When the movie ended, Eddie grabbed all the chip bags, putting them in the garbage.

"Steve, is it okay if we sleep at Bill's house tomorrow?" Richie asked, getting changed.

"Both of you?"

"Yeah."

"Sure." Steve nodded. "I'm going to go have a quick shower."

Eddie got changed, then climbed into the bed. Richie following.

"Richie?"

"Yes?"

"Would you ever date a boy?" Eddie whispered, not wanting Steve to accidentally hear their conversation.

"Yeah."

"What if... what if we dated?"

"Us?"

"Yeah, us."

"I don't know... I wouldn't mind."

"Me either..." Eddie agreed.