reddie oneshots

they're back (2)

For the first time since Eddie could remember, Richie was silent. The entire walk through their old home town was silent, only broken by Eddie asking where they were going to which Richie said "you'll see" and told Eddie to shut up when he kept asking.

Richie stopped on the kissing bridge. Eddie looked at him, very confused as this was the one place in Derry he didn't have a memory at. But when he saw Richie's face he got even more confused. Richie was pale, and there was sweat on his face and palms, which he wiped on his jeans. He looked terrified and kept glancing at the bridge.

"Rich..? What's going on? Why are we here?"

"Because Eds... there's something I need to show you that I should've showed you 27 years ago." Richie walked to the middle of the bridge and pointed, and when Eddie got closer he could see two initials. R+E. Eddie looked at Richie and something in his mind went off, everything clicking into place.

"Richie... am I E?" Eddie asked, stopping right in front of him and running his fingers over the initials.

Richie only looked at him, the words he'd been planning the whole walk here were stuck in his throat. He needed to get it out. He'd been hiding for 27 years and he needed to get it out. He loved Eddie Kaspbrak. But instead he just stared.

"Richie. Am I E?" he asked again, looking up and catching Richie's eye. Richie looked down at him, into the eyes of his former best friend. The boy he'd shared a hammock with, the boy he'd innocently kissed on the cheek a million times, the boy he got caught staring at in class, the man who he had seen die in front of him. All he could do was nod, close his eyes and make the biggest decision of his life. He kissed Eddie Kaspbrak.

Eddie thought his heart was going to explode right out of the newly healed hole in his chest. Richie was kissing him, and he was kissing Richie back. Richie's chapped lips pressed firmly against his own, something he had only dared dream about as a kid. The kiss was short and sweet, only 4 or 5 seconds. But after Richie pulled away Eddie wasn't done. So he kissed him again. And again. And again. Once the two finally pulled away, they were both bright red and Richie was grinning like crazy. He felt drunk almost, happier than ever, like he was floating and nothing else in the world mattered except seeing that shy smile spread across Eddie's face.

"I'm gay Eddie." Richie finally got it out, which he realized sounded stupid considering he had just kissed the most beautiful man in the world about a hundred times, but he needed to say it at least once.

Eddie laughed and hugged Richie tightly, his tiny arms wrapping around Richie's waist, his head falling on Richie's chest. "I know you are."

Richie looked down at those initials again as he felt himself hug Eddie close, resting his head on top of Eddie's. Those initials he had carved when he was just a kid, hopelessly in love with his best friend. In a town where nothing seemed to go right on one of the worst days of his life. And now he was holding that same best friend, still hopelessly in love but instead it was the best day of his life. Finally, something good had happened in Derry.