whoa, baby! | reddie

- five

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❝ i'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest
of my whole life the way i feel when i'm with you. ❞

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Richie knew he really should be getting done what he had to get done and leaving, but he hadn't gotten the chance to really visit his old haunts back when they had been in Derry on business two years earlier, and it was still early. So once he had bought himself the things he needed— including a winter jacket and boots as well as a worthwhile hat and gloves— he took another cab and got out at the edge of the woods.

He thanked the cabbie and headed down into the thin, dead forest, glancing around and sniffling a little against the chill. He knew they had visited the clubhouse— but they never went to the quarry. They had rushed Eddie straight to the hospital. There was no time for sight-seeing.

So even though the water was probably frozen over, and there wasn't much for him to do there, Richie walked to the cliff that the club had spent most of their summers jumping off of.

It was a smaller space than he remembered, and it was blocked off now by a gate with a sign that read, 'Danger! No jumping.'

Richie regarded it for a moment, then swung a leg over. He peered over the edge, and much like when he had entered the drugstore, the sky reflected in the icy sheet below was one from a distant memory just beginning to resurface.

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Derry, Summer of 1993

"D'you really think I'm cute?"

The question caught Richie by surprise. He frowned, brushing the hair out of Eddie's forehead. They were sitting on a rock just beneath the surface while their friends horsed around in deeper waters. Eddie has his back pressed to Richie's chest and they sat, watching, thinking, having their own quiet conversation.

"'Course I do," he said. "I've thought you were cute since the day I first met you."

"Why?" Came the soft response. Startled, Richie started to sit up, arm tightening around Eddie's waist and holding him close so he wouldn't slip off of the rock. "I'm nothing special."

"Whoa, baby!" Richie protested, shifting off of the rock and moving around so he stood in front of Eddie, placing his hands carefully on the boy's knees. "Slow down a sec— Who made you so damn insecure?" Eddie opened his mouth to protest, but Richie silenced him with a look, eyebrows so high on his head that he thought they might disappear into his hair. A bit of a mischievous grin tugged as his lips and he gestured to Eddie's reflection in the lake. "Can't you see you're beautiful?"

"Richie, you don't have to—" The brunet started to say, but Richie cut him off, gripping his knees tightly.

"You're beautiful," Richie insisted, moving closer so he stood between Eddie's thighs, which parted slightly to give him room. He looped his arms around his boyfriend's waist, tilting his head back and offering a lazy smile.

Do you think I'll ever get away from her?" Eddie asked. Richie sighed, brushing the hair out of the boy's forehead once again— it kept sticking.

"Well, damn, Eds, I think you can do whatever the hell you want to do," Richie answered truthfully. "You don't have to ask permission."

"I don't know," Eddie said, and Richie could hear the hesitance in his voice. "I just— She's my mom, you know? Even if she tries to control me, it's because she loves me, not because she wants me to suffer, right?"

"Listen, sugar," Richie said, pulling his lover down into a chaste kiss. Eddie lingered a moment longer than perhaps he had to, then pulled away, glancing at the others with a flicker of apprehension. None of them were looking, but he pushed Richie out from between his legs anyway, squeezing his thighs together once there wasn't a body in the way and covering his red cheeks.

"I don't know what your Ma is playing at when she tries to bring you down like this," he told him very seriously, placing his hands on Eddie's bare legs once more. "I'm being for real. I don't know if she thinks it's going to keep you from going out and finding a relationship, or what, but here we are, yeah? Clearly her manipulation tactics didn't work very well."

"They did work until I met a stubborn bastard who wouldn't take no for an answer," Eddie grumbled, lips curling upwards into a soft smile, and Richie chuckled, pushing himself off the side of the rock and floating backwards in the water.

"Yowza, Eds," he called. "You make it sound like you don't want all this— maybe I'm the ugly one."

"Yeah, maybe," Eddie snarked. There was a soft splash from his general direction, and then someone was shoving Richie under water, and he gasped, hardly getting a breath in before he was completely submerged.

That little asshole.

He grabbed the hands that were holding him under and yanked the owner closer, turning them over in the water and dragging Eddie downwards. The boy struggled, and Richie didn't keep him underwater long— the thought of the little red inhaler, sitting all the way at the top of the cliffs, briefly crossed his mind, and he pulled his boyfriend up to the surface.

Long legs wrapped around his waist and Eddie clung to him, gasping for breath, but laughing, too. His brown hair was plastered to his face, and Richie glanced around before craning his neck and kissing him again. It was wet and slippery, but he didn't mind, and Eddie didn't seem to, either.

I can't believe I'm allowed to do this now.

Richie smiled into the kiss, sliding his hands up Eddie's chest and neck to grip his face. The boy pulled on his hair, angling his head and biting down on his lips gently.

"Eddie!" Richie squeaked, surprised. His cheeks burned as the brunet smirked devilishly, dragging his loose lip down with his thumb and placing another peck on the corner of his mouth.

"Wanna get out of here?" Eddie suggested, leaning down so his mouth was right next to Richie's ear, and the boy shuddered.

"Holy shit, babe," Richie said breathlessly, blinking water out of his eyes and looking around at their friends. "You're makin' me crazy." They were still distracted and thrashing around in the deeper water. Richie's toes brushed the bottom as he made his way towards the shore with Eddie still hanging on for dear life, poking at his cheeks and counting his freckles aloud.

They snuck away without telling anyone, but Richie was 99.9% sure he had seen Stan look over at the last second just as they disappeared back into the trees.

But for the bright-eyed and dazzling smile that was sent back at him as they hurried through the forest, clubhouse hammock-bound, he decided that maybe it was all worth it.

Love made it so.

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Richie swung his legs absently, leaning back with his palms against the cold ground. The snow had become a dusting now— there were at least two or three inches. Beginning to feel glad he had bought his supplies, Richie got to his feet and brushed himself off.

The seat of his jeans were wet from sitting in the snow but he couldn't find it in him to care as he took out his phone and dialed his home number, pressing it to his cold ear underneath his hat and making his way back out of the barrens and onto the main road.

"Hey, sweetheart. You'll never guess where I just was."

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