Richie's been struggling with his sexuality for years, unsure of what everyone would think of him when they found out his secret. After defeating Pennywise with the other losers, he's clueless as to where his life is leading him.
Little does Richie...
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"Are you snooping, Rich?" Eddie crossed his arms, attempting to look intimidating (it just made him look like a disgruntled meerkat).
Richie thought fast, "no, I was just looking for condoms for me to fuck your mother with." 'Nice save, Richie' he thought to himself.
"Good luck with that. Give me the box." Eddie sounded serious, but Richie loved their banter (even if Richie's banter had more flirty intentions rather than insulting).
"You're just embarrassed! That's so cute, Eds!" He went to pinch Eddie's cheeks, only to have his arms smacked away softly.
"Don't call me cute! I am a man!" Eddie's voice cracked, causing a brief two-second silence before Richie bursted out laughing like a psycho.
"Aw, you're just adorable, spaghetti man!" Richie squished Eddie's face and Eddie shoved him away. "Such a cute wittle baby!"
"Fuck you!" Eddie shouted, asserting his dominance. There was a weird tension in the air that Eddie couldn't see. But oh, Richie could feel the tension in the room.
"Woah, I can't fuck you and your mother! That's kind of weird." Richie laughed, knowing the teasing would set Eddie off on a cute little rant.
"Kind of? What the fuck, Richie? Ugh, you're so annoying! How would you feel if I said that I fucked your mother?"
"I'd feel scared for my mom. You might've given her Gonorrhoea!"
"Beep beep, Richie."
"Ooh, the shut-down has pulled into the station. Choo-choo! Chugga chugga chugga ah-oogah!"
Eddie immediately pulled away from their play-fighting and walked to his record player which already had a record on it. He grabbed the needle, placing it at the right point. It crackled a bit and Richie stood in confusion. Had he won the argument?
'Africa' by Toto began to play. Eddie always knew about Richie's weak spot, amazing music.
"Okay, you don't win just because you're playing a freaking jam."
"Freaking? I expected better from you."
Eddie was getting closer and closer to Richie as the words to the song began to appear. Eddie, using his number-one power move, latched his dainty hands onto Richie's shoulders. Richie was flabbergasted to say the least. Eddie's hands were on his shoulders. For real! He hesitantly placed his strong hands onto Eddie's hips. Eddie's smug winning-smirk faded once Richie made full eye-contact with him.
Richie began to mouth the words to the chorus.
"It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you,"
The words faded into the background as Eddie and Richie sat by the quarry with their radio beside them.
"Have you ever thought about the afterlife?" Richie asked, laying on his back with Eddie beside him.
"Of course I have, you fucking moron. I'm not twelve." Eddie said without looking at him.
"You look twelve."
"Fuck off."
They sat silently for a moment.
"I bless the rains down in Africa,"
"I bless the rains from Eddie's mom's vagina." Richie sung to the beat of the song, earning a slap on the head from Eddie, "one day, you're gonna be begging for me to hang out with you."
"What were you saying about afterlife?"
The boys had an awkward distance between them, but the act still felt just as intimate. Perhaps the act was more inmate than Freddie Mercury's falsetto being sung into Richie's ears from his Walkman.
"Do you remember what you told me about life after death?" Eddie asked, still clinging to Richie and swaying to the steady music.
"I may recall." He said in a stupid English-butler voice. He could never be truly serious.
"Sometime I get really scared that I'll die in my sleep. I won't get to say goodbye to everyone I love and I'll just be dead in a black abyss."
"That's deep, Eds."
Eddie gave him a look that said, 'just talk to me, Richie.'
Richie sighed, "I don't like to think about it that way. I live everyday making sure that I make people laugh. If I can bring joy to people's lives then that's all I need, you know?" He paused, thinking. "And I don't think about death like it's nothing for eternity. Isn't it just fascinating that we can be born, only to die when the time is right? I don't believe in fate. I mean, people get life-saving surgery everyday! I guess what I'm saying is, when the time is right for me, I want to feel excited to see what's on the other side, not afraid. When we were younger, I just said all of that dark abyss stuff because I was too scared to tell you what I really thought."
"You're smarter than I thought you were."
"You're hot."
"What?"
"I said you're a tatertot." Richie took his hands off of Eddie's hips.
"Wow. We're really doing this again." Eddie took his hands off of Richie's broad shoulders, only to place them on his own hips.
The song was just ending when the noise of the front door opening startled the boys. The sound was followed by a woman's voice, "Eddie-bear, I bought the groceries!"
