Nyctophilia 🌪 Reddie

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Richie waited patiently while Eddie was with Jade. He really hoped Eddie was opening up, but he also hoped that he didn't tell Jade anything about his plan to break out. If she said anything to an official, Eddie could be taken away.

Richie wanted to leave, but he didn't want to risk getting in trouble with the government. He remembered how scared Eddie was when he thought Richie had died, and Richie didn't ever want to feel that fear in thinking that Eddie died.

"Where's Mike when I need him?" Richie asked himself, laying back on his and Eddie's bed and closing his eyes.

Richie really missed his brother. He didn't know him long, but he knew that Mike gave the best relationship advice and could help Richie talk Eddie into not trying to break out of a government base. He knew Mike had probably forgotten him or at least moved past his brother than he only knew for a few days, but he didn't mind. The memories were there.

"Richie!"

Richie sat up and opened his eyes, looking around the room in confusion. None of his friends were there, but the voice sounded familiar.

"Hello?" he asked out into the silence of his room, looking around in confusion.

"Close your eyes."

Richie didn't understand the command, but he trusted the voice and shut his eyes. Without warning, Richie felt like he was falling, until he opened his eyes. That's when he realized who had been speaking to him.

"El?" he asked cautiously, looking out into the void of dark his mind was trapped in.

He had only been there once before, when El contacted him to let him know that they were trying to save him from Zack and Dr. Brenner.

"Richie," came El's voice again, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

It was different than the first time. She had been there and talked to Richie. This time it seemed as though she was weak and couldn't physically appear. She was just a voice in the empty space.

"El! Where are you?" Richie yelled, his eyes darting all over the open space.

He heard a wall of pain, but it sounded like a man, not El. In a puff of smoke, a man grabbing his leg appeared. He seemed to be running from something. Richie looked behind him to see what the man was running from, but he couldn't see anything.

Richie ran up to the man and realized who he was.

"Zack Denbrough?" he asked.

The misty Zack obviously didn't know Richie was there, and seemed more focused on running away from whatever was attacking him.

Then, he vanished in a cloud of dust.

A loud ringing filled Richie's head and he collapsed to the ground, pulling at his hair and yelling. The sound took up his mind and hurt his head. Then, he heard another voice yelling.

"Traitor!"

It was a dark voice, filled with loathing. Richie knew it sounded familiar, but he couldn't pinpoint it. Then, an inhuman shrieking filled the air along with a scream, and Richie felt like he was falling all over again.

He opened his eyes after what seemed like hours. Looking around, Richie realized he was still in his mind, darkness surrounding him. The darkness revealed another cloud of smoke and then a couch where five people sat, lounging around.

Richie walked up to it, his eyes wide. On the couch sat Mike, Will, Max, Lucas, and Dustin. They all seemed okay, which made Richie sigh in relief. He tried to get their attention, but they vanished seconds later.

More screaming filled the air, but it was a girl. Richie couldn't find the sound; it was all around him. Then he heard crying and saw someone limping, grabbing their arm and whimpering.

"El?" he asked, and she looked up at him with wide eyes.

"R-run. It's... it's not safe," she gasped out. Her eyes were filled with tears and her arm was bleeding.

"Run from what?! El, what's going on?" Richie asked, trying to reach out for El, but she was just a misty figure.

"Th-they're alive. They didn't," she grunted and clenched her teeth in pain. "H-Hive. It's... it's alive."

"I don't-"

Before Richie could say anything else, El collapsed, screaming in pain before vanishing.

Richie sat up, eyes flying open as he recognized the room as his and Eddie's. His shirt was soaked with sweat and his glasses had fallen off his face.

He reached into his and Eddie's nightstand and pulled out a sheet of paper and wrote down everything he could remember from the scene in his brain.

1. Zack in pain
2. "Traitor"
3. Shrieking
4. Hawkins kids on the couch
5. El in pain, cut arm
6. It's not safe
7. Hive alive?

Richie threw the paper back on the ground and tried to calm himself down, but his nerves were making him shake and he couldn't settle down. He was burning all over, his head was throbbing, and all he could see was El in pain before he saw spots in his vision and blacked out.

•••

Eddie had finally opened up to Jade. She seemed surprised but quickly regained her composure and began to do her job. Eddie was still a little hesitant, but he opened up as best as he could.

"What changed your mind?" Jade asked at the end of their session, realizing she had been able to fill a full two pages of paper with Eddie's statements.

"I realized I had been coping by putting up walls," Eddie said shamefully. "I love Richie more than I love anyone, and I couldn't stand to see him hurt because I wouldn't open up."

Jade smiled. "I'm glad you're coming around."

Eddie nodded and stood up, walking to the door. "Thanks, Jade," he said before walking toward his room.

Eddie was excited to tell Richie about his progress. Jade had mentioned doing group sessions now that they all seemed comfortable, and Eddie was open to that idea. He ran back to his room and excitably opened the door, but it didn't open.

"Rich?" Eddie called, trying to push the door open.

That's when he saw that it was Richie's leg in the way of the door. It flopped helplessly when Eddie tried to move it, so he quickly realized that Richie might not be conscious.

"Richie! Wake up!" Eddie yelled, trying to make enough space to slide inside without hurting Richie.

It took him much longer than he wanted, but eventually Eddie was able to scramble in and see Richie laying on the ground right next to the bed. He had sweat through his shirt and his glasses laid next to him, one of the lenses broken much like they had been when Stan hit Richie with their van when they first met.

Eddie knelt on the ground next to his boyfriend and touched his arm. "Richie? Baby, wake up, come on!" Eddie said, shaking him a little bit.

Richie was breathing, but Eddie was still concerned. Richie didn't get worked up and panicked easily, and he certainly didn't pass out often. Eddie was confused as to what could have happened in the past hour to cause Richie to have such an unnatural reaction.

"Come on, Rich," Eddie said, lifting Richie's chin, only for it to flop back down, signifying he was completely unconscious.

Eddie tried to lift Richie up onto the bed, and it took him longer than he anticipated. He hadn't lifted in a while and Richie was getting heavier since he was getting more muscular, so Eddie struggled a bit more than he wanted to.

He was about to try to wake Richie up again when he saw a piece of paper on the ground. Eddie picked it up and read the untidy scrawl that belonged to Richie.

He had no clue what it meant, but it only made him want to wake Richie up quicker.