Yearning - Reddie

Two

When Richie arrived at Bill's doorstep later that day, his faded Hawaiian shirt flowing in the light breeze and his glasses slightly askew on the bridge of his nose, the rest of the group were already there.

"Stan the man!" Richie smiled when the door opened to reveal his curly headed friend. He gave him a pat on his back as he basically leaped through the door, Stan simply nodding tiredly at Richie.

"Come on, we're watching a movie." Stan said. Richie followed him into the house and down to the basement.

He was about to ask what movie they were watching when he heard a high shriek from downstairs. "OKAY BUT CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TURN THIS SHIT OFF?! This is SO unsanitary. I can barely fucking watch!"

Not needing to ask anymore, he was faced with a rather disgusting sight of a monster on the TV screen. It had sticky-looking green stuff leaking out of its mouth and right onto the face and shoulders of a screaming kid it had captured. In front of the screen sat Bill, Ben and Beverly, sharing a large bowl of popcorn on the sofa. Mike sat on the armchair next to them, while Eddie sat on the rug and leaned his back onto the sofa cushions, half hiding his face in disgust.

Stan sat down next to Bill while taking a handful of popcorn from the bowl. Mike, Bill and Ben greeted him while Beverly and Eddie had their focus on the screen.

Richie smirked, "Horror, huh? That's sick."

"I have to agree with you on this one, because I think I'm going to be fucking sick after watching this." Eddie retorted, his disapproving face fixated on the TV as he spoke.

Richie grinned at his remark and plopped down next to him, slightly bumping his shoulder with Eddie's. "Eh, it could be worst, Eds. It could've been your mom on the screen."

"B-Beep beep, R-Richie." Bill laughed, Ben and Bev joining him. Eddie slapped his arm. "Shut the fuck up. And stop calling me that!" He gave him a warning look, but leaned into his shoulder in a friendly manner nevertheless.

Richie's heart flipped at the contact, but he tried not to show how happy he felt. He gently leaned back into Eddie and dropped his arm next to his, having them almost touching. He felt his face heat up and hoped his blush wasn't visible in the dim TV light.

Despite his love for anything horror related, Richie lost his interest in the movie fairly quickly. Not only did he not remember the movie's name, he probably couldn't explain the plot after about 15 minutes since he started watching it.

The only thing he could focus on was the boy pressed next to him. It wasn't his fault he lost his focus, though: Eddie clenched his shirt whenever a scary scene played, or went as far to hide his face in the fabric of Richie's Hawaiian shirt, making the taller boy forget how to breath for a second. At some point Eddie turned around to grab the popcorn bowl from Bev (or what was left of it), his face so close to Richie's that he could feel his breathing, and he thought he might faint. When he turned back with the bowl and asked if Richie wanted some popcorn, face so close and eyes so soft, Richie couldn't handle it anymore.

"I-I'm good. Got any cigs on you, Bev?" Richie asked almost frantically, using it to excuse himself out of the room while slightly moving away from Eddie, praying to every God he could possibly think of that he wasn't blushing. Bev, focused on the movie and only half listening, tossed him a slightly crumpled pack of Reds, followed by a "sure, Rich."

"Thanks," he caught the pack with ease and hurried upstairs, hoping him leaving didn't seem too abrupt or weird.

Sighing, he ran his hand through his messy dark hair, getting out of Bill's house. Leaving the door slightly open, he took a cigarette out and lit it with his lighter. He leaned against the door frame, eyes closed and a burning cigarette hanging loosely between his fingers. He took a somewhat unskilled drag and exhaled smoke into the night air.

He really needed to get his shit together. Like, right now.

He took two more drags from the quickly burning cigarette, then dropped his hand and dazed off for a few minutes. He only realized he was daydreaming when his cigarette got so short it almost burnt his fingers. He put it out and tossed it to a trash can near him before making his way back inside.

Turned out the movie had already ended because his friends were arguing which horror movie to put on next, and for a moment Richie felt completely exhausted. Ben must have noticed because he was the first one to turn his head when he came back. "Hey Richie, you okay?"

Suddenly very aware of everyone looking at him, he quickly put on his signature grin and casually threw the pack of Reds back to Beverly, making his way back to his spot next to Eddie. "Yeah, all good, Haystack. What movie are we watching next?"