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huit

Winters in Derry are always harsh. Beverly, Bill, Stan, Ben, and Mike all know this, having lived through them. Eddie and Richie don't. Richie is taking it especially hard after living in California. He hates Derry weather. It's so cold.

Eddie likes cold weather. It means fuzzy sweaters and hot chocolate and hugs to keep the chill out. Eddie remembers how nice it felt, cuddling with his old friends. He'd only had a couple back in Pennsylvania, and they would always hug and cuddle and coddle him. He always complained, saying that they were acting like his mother, but now he finds that he misses the physical contact quite a bit.

Like that day in the tire swing, god, Eddie loved touching Richie like that. It wasn't sexual, just a very innocent, instinctual need for human contact. And for some reason, Richie's contact is unique. It sends fire down Eddie's spine and electricity through each and every one of his nerves.

So, yeah, Eddie likes winter. He likes winter with Richie.

Eddie notices that Richie's a very touchy-feely kind of person. He's always touching him. And Richie touches his other friends, too. He holds Beverly's hand and cuddles with her. He cuddles with Stan whenever Stan lets him, which is rarely. But with Eddie, it's a little... excessive.

Richie is always practically sitting on top of him, always messing with his hair or tracing patterns on his arms or knees or knuckles. Always fixing things for Eddie, kneeling in the middle of the hallway to tie his shoe, or stopping him to make sure the strings on his hoodie are even. It should be annoying, but it isn't. Eddie quite likes it.

Richie is always finding excuses to touch Eddie, because he doesn't know how to ask for it. And Eddie is constantly finding excuses to fret and fuss over Richie. It's how he shows that he cares, and he doesn't know how to say it, either. Richie deliberately misbehaves often, just so Eddie will fuss over him. It's just how their relationship is; they both love to annoy each other.

Eddie is at Richie's house again. Richie's room is so comforting, its four secure, blue walls shutting out the cold. Eddie is laying on his back, over Richie's thighs, his head dangling off of the bed as Richie reads a comic. Eddie watches the snow fall outside the window, and it looks like it's falling up.

"I wish I could stay here forever." He sighs, and Richie looks down at him, a smile tugging at his lips.

"I wish you could, too." He replies. He means it more than Eddie does.

Eddie scoots down so that his head now rests on Richie's thighs, causing the tall boy to make a slight noise of discomfort. Eddie looks up as Richie continues reading, completely absorbed in the wild tales of Batman. Eddie huffs at the lack of attention he's getting. He snatches the comic out of Richie's hands.

"Fucker, I was just at a good part!" Richie complains, and Eddie grins. Richie rolls his eyes. Though, he hoped this would happen; he likes to get involved in comics or video games or music rather than pay attention to Eddie, just so the small boy will demand attention from him. Just so their hands might brush as Eddie yanks his distraction away. Just so Richie has an excuse for pulling Eddie half into his lap, to move him out of the way of the TV. "What do you want?"

"I'm bored." Eddie says bluntly, and Richie groans as Eddie shuts the comic, losing his place. "If I'm going to be at your house, you have to actually hang out with me."

"But I hate you so much." Richie protests. Eddie tries to hit his glasses off, but Richie lifts his head out of the way, causing Eddie's fingers to simply graze his jaw instead.

"Shut up, Trashmouth." The small boy says. "I could headbutt you in the nuts right now. You'd never recover."

Richie's hands shoot down to protect the area as he frowns. "Hey, not funny."