kissing in cars|reddie

twenty

The Next Day

It seemed as though his father was a completely different person. The first "good morning" of his day was replied with a simple "hey". Eddie was particularly puzzled- the previous day, Frank was hugging him and being kind. Now today, the last day he would spend time with him, Frank dismissed every time Eddie would try and make conversation.

Of course, Laurie had been incredibly nice to him. They made some lunch together for all of them, and Richie took care of baby Tony and even changed his diaper once. Eddie thought it was so cute that his baby step brother and Richie were bonding.

He was devastated because they were supposed to be leaving today. And Frank didn't even want to spend time with him.

However, Eddie did make the day the best he could. He loved Laurie, she was more of a mother than Sonia. He adored Anthony, he wanted to see his cute face everyday. And for his father, well, he didn't exactly know.

Most of the day, Eddie had this tense feeling in his stomach every time his father looked at him (no one told him yet about the mood swings, which could have helped him a lot). He felt like the world was going to end, he felt like death was approaching and he didn't know why- he wanted to stop the feeling. It made Eddie feel queasy and timid, he would clench his jaw and nibble on his nails. Nonetheless, the day continued and Eddie really didn't want to leave...

Around nine p.m., when Eddie was sitting alone in his dad's office waiting for him, Richie came in.

His eyebrows were creased and his face held a panicky expression.

"Eddie," said Richie, glancing out of the hallway and back to where Eddie was sitting. "Eddie, we've gotta go."

Eddie stood up. "Right now? I really wanted to talk-"

"Hurry, we've gotta get our shit and leave."

Eddie was even more confused. What the hell was Richie so frantic about? He started walking out of the room. "Let me say bye to Laurie first, alright?"

"Don't go out there."

"To the living room? Richie." Eddie stared at him, giving him a ridiculous look that said 'seriously?'

"Come on," Richie grabbed his wrist and led them to the guest room. Eddie saw he was really worried about something, and he stood by the door to the guest room a little shocked and still confused. Richie had been packing up their clothes and things, not giving Eddie an explanation to what was happening. He still wanted to say goodbye to everyone before they left...

Then he heard sirens. Next, blue and red flashing lights were blaring outside of the window. He could see and hear clearly what was going on. What the fuck? What the fuck?

Eddie heard Laurie's voice, although it was nearly inaudible, coming from the living room.

"...doesn't deserve this...didn't need to...the cops!" Was all he heard.

Suddenly, he was panicking, too. And Richie looked out of the window and threw all of their few belongings over his shoulder.

"Go out the back door. We're not taking my car."

"Richie, wait!" Eddie whisper-yelled to him.

Richie looked at him. His eyes were so wide, so filled with fear, he felt bad that this was all happening to Eddie so fast. Richie frowned, "Eddie baby, we gotta go."

"But, Laurie," Eddie's bottom lip trembled. "A-and my dad. I wanna say goodbye."

"Is it worth getting fucking arrested, Eddie? Do you know what they're going to do? They're gonna lock us up back in Derry until our parents pick us up, and then we'll be fucking watched by the police everywhere we go!"

"Th-that won't happen..."

"How are you so sure, Eddie? Do you really, really want to say bye??" Richie looked so angry at him.

The boy swallowed, but nodded. He couldn't believe himself. He was really risking him and Richie's chance of leaving just to say a quick, sad "goodbye, I love you" to them.

Oh, that reminds him, Frank hadn't even told him "I love you" since the fifth grade. Jesus. Eddie really was stupid.

Richie gave him a look.

And Eddie shook his head, his feet betraying him as his body moved toward the room where his father was. He was really doing this, wasn't he?... His heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest and his lungs felt like collapsing, his legs felt sore all of a sudden and he gulped.

He stepped away from Richie and into the short corridor to get to the parlor. His breathing became very delayed, and Eddie's feet collided with the floor silently. He peeked around the wall to the living room. Standing there was Frank, Laurie, and two officers.

Eddie immediately locked eyes with them.

And then Frank turned around to see him, too. Eddie felt like this was the one time in his life where he truly panicked and made a huge mistake; Panic has a salty taste.

It was like he's standing in a small glass tank, and the tank is filling up with water. Salt water. In a moment, it'd fill up all the way and he'll drown. There's no way out of the tank. All he can do is wait as the water surrounds him. He'd be drowning in peace if it weren't for the impending doom that settled inside of him.
He stands there, paralyzed, until a cop is throwing him to the floor so abruptly, and shoving handcuffs around his wrists. They hurt. And he looks at Frank and Laurie. They're all watching him; they all see how vulnerable he is.

Eddie is blinking back tears in his eyes, but his whole body is betraying him and he's sobbing. He doesn't say anything. He's frozen, literally, not moving an inch. He hears faint voices because the officer is ranting on about how he has the right to remain silent. Eddie's heart is beating so quickly he thinks it may just explode. And Richie is finally in the living room, too, yelling.

"Don't touch him like that! He didn't do anything!" Eddie sees another cop handcuff Richie- who accepts his fate of being caught.

Frank is looking at his son, words can't express the amount of guilt he will feel in the next two days after Eddie is gone, and Laurie is still yelling at him and telling him he overreacted. Because Frank had called the cops.

The officer who wrapped Eddie's hands in the cold, metal cuffs pushed him to his feet and dragged him out of the house.

"D-dad?" Eddie was crying, he looked back as best he could. "Dad?! Please!" He cried, lips trembling. His legs demanded to run to his father and Laurie and give them bone-crushing hugs, because he will never get that chance again. Yet, the police officer is shoving Eddie into their vehicle.

He doesn't know where Richie is, but he sure as hell wishes he was in that car with him...