Confident

Man In The Box

Song: Man In the Box by Alice In Chains

October 15, 1993

The entire room smells of weed. Usually Eddie tends to stay away from this environment. Not necessarily because he thinks marijuana is bad. More because he didn't want it to fuck with his asthma. But he can't seem to stay away from Richie, even with all the smoke. Richie is his own drug.

Richie offers the joint to Eddie. The small boy's eyes widen. He's nervous and curious at the same time. He knows he can't, though. So with a frown, he rejects.

"Oh I can't. I have asthma." Even though he's embarrassed he smiles.

"Oh shit. I'm sorry. I had no idea. I'll put it away."

"Wait!" Eddie isn't sure why he's saying these next words. "I've always wanted to try. I just want to be normal for once. Plus my inhaler is right here." He points to the fanny pack around his waist.

Richie eyes him. He's not sure if he should be the one to let this happen. "Are you sure?"

Eddie nods, scooting closer to the boy. "Y-yeah. Positive. You'll be here."

"O-okay. Here." He scoots closer as well and lifts the pipe to his mouth.

Eddie shakily inhales, his eyes squeezed shut out of fear. He tries to be cool about the whole situation, but instead he ends up wheezing. Richie curses quietly, reaching for the inside of Eddie's fanny pack. He fumbles with the inhaler and hold it to the boy's mouth.

Eddie takes it in, coughing only twice more. He laughs next. This unsettles Richie. "Maybe we shouldn't."

Eddie shrugs. "Oh come on. It wasn't that bad. Let me try again!"

Richie continues eyeing him. That's when he gets the next idea. He takes a hit and motions Eddie closer. Richie's face is suddenly centimeters from his own. Eddie gulps, but opens his mouth anyways. He trusts Richie.

Before he knows it, there's a cloud of smoke entering his mouth. Their lips are so close together and all Eddie wants is to close that gap once and for all. But he doesn't.

This time Eddie only coughs a small amount. So they repeat this action several times. The last time, Richie grabs each side of Eddie's face, holding him still. Eddie notices that Richie's eyes are closed. He's not sure whether he should copy this action.

Richie slowly pulls away, eyes still closed and hands still cupping Eddie's face. Eddie watches, thinking to himself that Richie is the most beautiful thing he's ever seen.

"Chee." Eddie barely whispers, causing Richie's eyes to flutter open.

Suddenly Eddie's lips are on Richie's. Their eyes are back to being shut and Eddie's hands no longer stay at his side. They kiss slowly and passionately, no longer worrying about the consequences.

Richie is a bit taken back. He's had these pint up feelings for so long. He's not too sure what to do with himself. Even though he's sure of the way he feels about Eddie, he's still never kissed a boy. It's new. It's exciting. And it's also scary as hell.

But still, Eddie is confident. Richie wonders how the hell it's possible. Has he kissed other boys before? Of course he has. Richie feels like a total idiot.

Eddie is thinking the same thing. He's scared shitless. He's not sure what he's doing, but he can't stop. He doesn't want to stop. He's kissed a few boys before. But not many at all. And it's never gotten to be this intense. He played spin the bottle in middle school. He's let a few drunken straight boys kiss him through his high school career.