Before It Takes Us

Towels

Richie laid in Eddie's floor, his body wrapped in a towel. Eddie was blow drying his hair and raked his fingers through his curly hair. Richie smiled at the warmth of the blow dryer and curled up tighter. Eddie continued to dry his hair and put an oil that his mother had given him in his hair. Richie wished he had his glasses. Eddie grabbed an unused pair from his dresser. "Mom likes to make sure I don't go blind." He mumbled.
     Richie put them on and blinked a few times, it fit better than his last pair and made things clearer. "Thank you."
     Eddie cleaned the blood off of his arms and face. "The river beat you up pretty bad, huh."
     "Yeah." He looked at Eddie. "When did you have that knife?"
     Eddie began to blush. He wiped away welling blood on his cheek and continued to clean Richie. "Since Henry started messing with me."
     "Well, you saved my life."
     "You're a fucking moron for sacrificing yourself for me." He said angrily.
     Richie grinned. "That's what makes me so irresistible."
     Eddie rolled his eyes and threw the wet towel onto his dresser. He stood up and stretched his small legs. Richie stood up too and rummaged through Eddie's drawers to find dry clothes. He settled for jeans and a t-shirt. "You should be getting home, your mom will be worried."
     "She thinks I'm with a girl." He said with a shrug. "She said I can stay out as long as I want."
     Eddie collapsed onto his bed and got under the covers. "I need some sleep."
     Richie smiled and laid down next to him. He took off his glasses and slept with him.

     "Richie?" Mrs. Kaspbrak said.
     Eddie woke up and sat up. "Momma?"
     "Is Richie okay?"
     Eddie shook Richie away. He grunted and put on glasses. He turned to the door and saw Eddie's mom and smiled. "Hey, ma'am."
     She rushed to him and examined his wounds. "What were you doing?"
     "Skateboarding." Eddie answered before Richie could say anything stupid.
     She clicked her tongue and rubbed his wounds gently. He smiled and looked at Eddie. "Sorry to bother you, I just thought it would be better to crash here than go all the way home when I was hurt."
     "As long as you don't give my baby any diseases or illnesses." She said sharply.
     Eddie turned his head and rolled his eyes. Richie nodded and somehow his smile widened. She walked calmly out of the room and Richie waited for her footsteps to fade away before he kissed Eddie passionately. He jumped, but kissed back. Richie ran his fingers through his hair and pushed harder against his lips. Eddie smiled into the kiss and pushed him away. "Not now, Tozier."
     He shrugged and smiled before grabbing his skateboard. "See ya Maystar Gay."